Two trips provides 45 minutes of dolphins! 
I learned today why the water is so very cold. There is an ocean current that usually passes by Mikura, bringing lovely warm water with it. But for whatever reason, this current is now traveling 100 miles away from Mikura! This anomaly occurs every few decades, and means that the water around Mikura is appreciably colder. I can attest to this fact! After two trips today I am more or less a popsicle. The dolphins are, of course, not bothered by all this cold water, and they were out in force today! After just two trips, I had 45 minutes of video! We encountered a huge group of dolphins frolicking in the shallow waters near hte Shirataki waterfall. There were adult males chasing young females, juveniles playing in the waves, and mothers with young calves. I have included a picture of a young neonate- maybe a month or two old. There were so many dolphins churning up the water around me that I felt like I was swimming in dolphin soup! It will take me ages to identify all of these dolphins, but I can say for sure that I saw perhaps 60% of the entire island’s population of dolphins today. I saw some old friends pass by – Joo, Kitte, Ringo-chan and many more! We spotted 3 new neonates. And Y-chan – who had her first last year – is still here, and her young calf has survived!
Tomorrow I plan to rest up a bit – 2 trips in 1 day is very rough on the old bones, and I am quite out of shape. More soon!
-Justin