Though it was drizzling with a sky filled with dark clouds, we went to Bailey’s Key to try to collect observations and data. As the title indicates, Mother Nature had plans counter to ours. Kathleen collected data for about 8 minutes before the underwater visibility dropped to less than 2 meters with a heavier rain. It was a valiant effort to keep the space use data sheets dry enough for the sharpie to write. After data collection, we had breakfast and then went back to Bailey’s Key to have our dolphin encounter, with dolphin Sandy and trainer Sandro (see feature photo). Our swim was delayed, which gave us a chance to learn from the trainers while they were working with the dolphins. We even had the chance to learn a few SDs (cues to dolphin behaviors) from Kenli before sitting with other trainers and dolphins.
Thank you to Chastlyn with Trixie, Nicole with Gracie, Cain with Gizmo, and Kenli with Elli for sharing your training world with us!
The swim was awesome, even in a wickedly strong current! The dolphins were playful, even though the poor underwater visibility meant they had to be close to see them. So every observation of a dolphin was almost a surprise since they seemed to appear out of nowhere.
We earned our lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially after a warm shower! We watched the brief video Kathleen recorded after lunch to practice our dolphin IDs – we are remembering them better each day! Then, in the classroom, we had Teri’s training talk and learned more about operant conditioning and the logistics of training dolphins.
We have an actual free hour this afternoon before dinner. Weather has modified Fiesta night; dinner will be indoors – thank you, rain and wind!
Our impressions of the day are below.
Jackson – I must be really pretty because I got kissed by two different dolphins today!
Zack – I’m really glad we got to do all the dolphin encounter stuff today despite the weather.
Nicole – You know the weather is bad in the tropics when the water is warmer than the air.
Jaelynn – During the snorkel, Gizmo snuck up on me when I was talking about her!
Isabelle – Through experience, I found out dolphins like belly rubs. Also, Sandy chose to give me coral and I felt very special.
Harry – Swimming with dolphins is a memory I will always cherish.
Aradely – I got kissed on the mouth by a dolphin (Sandy) today after it swam away from me the first time.
Tori – Got to participate in some games of fetch with dolphins during the dolphin snorkel.
Camille – I enjoyed all of the dolphin events today, particularly the dolphin training.
Delaeni – Gracie doesn’t like the rain, but she gave me a gift (seagrass) anyway.
Don – What a crazy day! Both highs and lows!
John – Dolphin Air was grounded today by wind, rain and general weather ick!
Manon – It was a very humid day that was spent with dolphins. 🐬😁
Shane – Appreciate the students’ flexibility in the face of the weather. It turned into an absolutely stunning and excellent morning with what we got accomplished. It took the weather to break CSU’s streak of wins (thank you, Mother Nature).
Tomorrow is another data collection and potentially unpredictable weather day. We compliment the students for their good demeanor and flexibility with the ever-changing schedule due to weather.
Cheers
CSU RAMS (Really Awesome Mammal Snorkelers)
P.S. John and Gizmo:
