And, two university students of Kathleen's arrive.
Saturday began much the way friday ended … rain and wind. The ferry arrived bringing Joana and Robin with it. They are all settled in now and we had several good chats about their and DCP's research. I was also able to show them a bit of Mikura. But, … the show & tell occurred in the afternoon. At 08:30, I joined the Dai-5-Souei-maru and her senchoo, Souji-san with his five guests, to go dolphin searching and observing. We saw several groups. The first was comprised of male and female sub-adults mostly resting but also engaged in low level social activity. At least the erections of several males suggested they were not resting. We went from the port counterclock-wise around Mikura to Otaura, on the south side of Mikura. We saw several groups and most seemed to be resting, showing little interest in swimmers. The fourth sighting was mothers & calves and a few juveniles. One mom had her new calf with her – likely about 1-2 weeks old at most. The calf will definitely go into our ID books this year since it has a huge cookie cutter shark scar on it's right side. This is the third infant observed since the end of April. It was nice to be back on the water, even if the temperature was a bit chilly at 18 degrees C. I look forward to more observations and trips during the next week. Cheers Kathleen