Today gave us many dolphin observations as well as increasing seas.
We had an afternoon boat trip that brought us 5 sightings of 5 dolphin groups and 6 water entries. The first group had a new calf and I believe (need to confirm with two other researchers) that the ID was 301FS. If so, then this calf would be her first! The group was resting so we only observed them twice before moving on.
Our second group was seen by Shinkuzure and was ~6 dolphins mostly: an adult female and 5 sub-adult or juvenile males. They were socializing amongst themselves: much rubbing and rolling all over each other. They practiced with erections and also rubbed in the sand. We were in ~12-15 meters deep water and I could barely see the males when they were at the bottom due to the visibility. But they often swam by us in a group, at times almost oblivious to our presence while sometimes echolocating on us and checking the 'split-fins' out more thoroughly.
As we rounded Yokotsukane, we did not see dolphins but did encounter HUGE waves (3-4 m). Our boat was surfing a few times. This is the beginning affect of a fast moving typhoon (#8) coming up from the South. It is scheduled to be upon us on Friday or so but the waves are already up. So much so that the senchoo have removed their boats from the port area. Many of them dot the park that is ~200 m above the port.
So, looks like I will not be at sea tomorrow … but I have two more videotapes to log. So, I will be busy.
Cheers
Kathleen