Data collection was truncated this morning because some of the dolphins were too interested in Kathleen’s fins. But we did observe some neat behaviors – Bailey pec slapping all over the lagoon was one funky action. There was one dolphin crossing the full lagoon at high speed … with only the ripples in the sea surface to give the dolphin away! Gizmo whistled lots with bubbles (featured photo!) and we got to see Lightning nurse from Elli … see below.
Breakfast was good and allowed us to say “travel safely” to Melissa. Then, we split into two groups – one for space use data collection with a morning dolphin swim and one to do data entry for the previous space use sessions. We got back in time to head to the classroom to hear an Intro to DCP talk. You can see several of us listening just below and then us entering data a bit lower.
After lunch, we had a presentation and Q&A session with Samir Galindo, GM of AKR. He shared some neat stories of his time at AKR and his approach to management. After learning from him, we did some dolphin ID practice from the AM video, and we all identified Mr. French on the first try (even though he was never on screen this morning!)
We retrieved our gear from our rooms in prep for the night snorkel but returned to the classroom to learn about Coral reef restoration from Jen. And then to hear about night snorkeling/diving from Mickey Charteris, author of Caribbean Reef Life. An excellent guidebook and most cool presentation!! We felt very prepared for our night snorkel and thoroughly enjoyed the session. We commemorated our snorkel with a group photo!
Tomorrow is our last full day! This week went by very fast!
Nate – Space use has become second nature to me and quite fun. Interacting with all the people on the island and at Anthony’s Key Resort has been a fulfilling experience.
Jose – I really loved watching the sunset before night snorkeling session today.
TJ – I got autograph by Mr. Mickey the photographer and I got to see a barracuda and an octopus on the night snorkel.
Robert – Getting to see a lobster, swim past an octopus was the highlight of my day.
Abby – I was able to identify Bailey from across the lagoon today and Robert thinks I’m cool.
Annabelle – I enjoyed the talk on coral restoration, and I’ll see how to help in the future.
Brielle – The night snorkel was so fun, and I liked getting to see a baby squid.
Bella – I found that data collection has become much easier and I enjoyed watching Buzz and Gizmo bring us seaweed.
Jove – I enjoyed the space use dolphin call-outs in the lagoon and getting better every day. 😛
Taylor – I got way better at snorkeling today! And I learned today that I saw three brittle stars on the night snorkel!
Dallas – Even though I was a little bit nervous with the night snorkel I had so much fun and I got to eat one of my favorite sea food dishes (calamari) at dinner.
Maddie – I enjoyed listening to the talks on reef conservation and night nocturnal fish as well as the night snorkel. I’ve also enjoyed hanging out with everyone as a group.
Megan – I enjoyed learning more about DCP, AKR, reef genetics, and nocturnal reef life.
Kelly – I really enjoyed seeing the octopus in the wild today.
Mario – I called this year’s night snorkel a success, especially after seeing an octopus, a lobster and another barracuda.
Jonas – Me and my snorkeling buddy, Mario, were low-key, fluent in underwater sign language.
Heather – I was super happy to actually see some animals in the night snorkel this time. Most relaxed class yet.
Manon – The biggest hermit crab ever on the night snorkel and it ran like hell!
Cheers
StMU R3