Each session was at least 12 meters visibility with very little particulate matter suspended.
There was much social activity in the morning. At first, I thought the dolphins were mostly resting, but then I spied the young males, in the same groupings as yesterday, playing with and rubbing on and rolling over and chasing around each other. They were also vocal as they charged each other.
I also watched as Gracie found a Mangrove seedpod and started tossing it in the air only to retrieve it and repeat. I did not know that John was watching and recording her from the surface as well. So we have both the above and under water perspectives on this behavior. That is until Fiona swooped in and stole the seedpod from Gracie. Gracie did not seem to mind and Fiona kept herself entertained for the remainder of the session playing the seedpod.
It was very neat to be able to see and record most of the dolphins all at once. Several times as they swam by me, they were all in a tight group with each calf in infant position to their mom (This is when the calf is below the mom positioned next to her genital area.). The other sub-adults and adults were flanked on their sides. This is very much similar to how we observe dolphins in the wild when they begin to rest or travel. This occurred near to the end of the recording session in the morning, and after I exited the water, the surface activity was noticeably decreased. Maybe this was a morning nap …
Only two more days of data collection remain for this shortened field season at RIMS. I am hoping the good weather holds and we can capture a couple more hours of data.
Till tomorrow
Kathleen