Rubbing, rubbing and more rubbing.
We had two trips again today! That is 4 trips in 2 days – madness. #057 9 (Shimibaa) and her juvenile came around for an inspection on the first trip. The juvenile was very excited to see us, and hung around after mom left the scene. But mom came back in a hurry and disciplined the juvenile for spending too much time with us, and not sticking by her side where she belongs. Shimibaa opened her jaws really wide and bent her head toward her juvenile – a ‘stern talking to’ if you are a dolphin.
Our second trip was also a success! A group of 7 subadult males hung around for a bit – they were very playful. The group included Hidaritorao (#054) and his cronies. We found them over a huge patch of Tosaka seaweed, and the boys spent a lot of time rubbing themselves in the Tosaka and then scratching each other with their pec fins. It certainly looked like fun! They looked like a group of teenagers have a fun night on the town after mom and dad were away. Although rubbing in seaweed is fairly innocent as far as teenage behavior goes…
Things are going really well this year! I seem to be getting in a lot of trips, which means lots of data, which means everyone is happy! And since I came here about 3 weeks ago, I’ve managed to get myself into pretty good shape. The camera is getting lighter and lighter! Tonight I am going to play ping-pong at the gym – more sporting humiliation! Should be fun!
-Justin