Friday began with overcast skies but spectacular underwater visibility, again. The divers on our team (Bill, Ron, Madison & John) took the early trip to Mary’s Place for a morning of diving. Lisa helped me with data collection in the morning. I was able to collect 40 min of observations before Ronnie’s interest in my fins and Marg’s interest in my arms and shoulders meant it was time to get out. It seems I was a bit of a toy this morning!
I planned for a second observation session and was able to get 20 min in with all but Hector, Paya, Ritchie and Bill before a downpour greeted us. Lisa and I waited another 20 min to see if I could get back in but it was not to be. Still, the second session brought a lack of interest in me and the MVA and more socializing among the dolphins. They were quite vocal – lots of whistles and clicks.
Our team had their second dolphin swim at noon and the dolphins were just as playful with them as earlier in the week. Bill (DCP team member, not the dolphin) played the sea grass game with the dolphins. Ron said it seemed as though Bill was conducting an orchestra – moving the sea grass blade back and forth with dolphin heads diligently following his hand!
The afternoon was filled with dolphin discussions – behavior and sound meanings and also with rinsing and packing gear for our flights tomorrow. I’ll check flight times to see if I might be able to squeeze in a last session …
Cheers
Kathleen & the DCP RIMS 2011 team