Our day was packed! Data collection, breakfast, in the classroom (DCP, RIMS ID, Q&A), lunch, viewing AM video, reviewing AM data sheets and soon-to-be-collected space use data, snorkeling at Baileys, meeting Gracie & Trixie, Elli & calf, Poli & Kami, Bailey & Georgie, Tilly & Sandy and their humans! Thank you to Shaslyn, Yessan, Sandro, Gerrald! A small amount of free time, the fish ID lecture, dinner, and this blog! You can see us meeting them below … and then a high jump by Poli and Kami!
Kathleen let us know the underwater visible was poor for AM data collection, as you can see with the featured photo. We agreed with her when we snorkeled as we were all about 1-2 feet away from the coral before we saw it. But we still took care not to touch the coral! We gained a glimpse of what the trainers do each day with the dolphins. Below are our thoughts for today.
Abby – I got kissed on the cheek by a dolphin for the first time and learned about different types of fish.
Ellie – Today a huge school of fish swam by me while we were snorkeling. They were blue, probably blue tangs.
Laura – today, I received a very special gift of seaweed from a dolphin.
Anna – This morning was very exciting to start the data collection, and I am looking forward to using my ID notes and applying them tomorrow morning.
Christian – I encountered coral for the first time, and I was very frightened trying not to touch it.
Lucy – While snorkeling I saw purple sea fans, which is probably my favorite coral.
Nathalie – today was a day of many first including snorkeling, getting kissed by a dolphin, and meeting the trainers.
Anson – it was interesting while interacting with the dolphins that one of them eats 25 lbs of fish a day.
Tasha – Despite low visibility, I rather enjoyed seeing the coral and fish I did for the first time this afternoon.
Gabe – I learned how to identify the dolphins we are researching, and I snorkeled in the ocean for the first time, and it was a blast!
Caroline – I got a kiss from a dolphin, and I swam up to a giant rock with beautiful coral.
Don – Shark!🦈
Paige – On our scuba adventure I was not hallucinating from low air, I did see a bearded toad fish. 🐠
Manon – I’m glad everybody enjoyed the snorkel despite the low visibility.
Shane – Very grateful to dolphin training staff to allow students to go out and observe them and the dolphins.
Tomorrow will take us to Maya Key, after data collection with the dolphins and then more info about physiology.
Cheers
Kathleen, Manon, Don & the CSU group!