Morning data collection had Sandy irritating Buzz with Champ and Alita watching the two of them engage in rough play and chases with open mouth expressions. Rocky spent time chasing tiny fish just below the water’s surface – we think the fish were trying to hide in the sargassum. After a quick breakfast, we jumped on the snorkel boat and motored to West Bay for a morning snorkel. The sea was still glassy calm, and the underwater visibility was delightful. The boat ride was really engaging and the underwater viewing enthralling. We had some downtime this morning and then, after lunch, we spent time in the classroom practicing dolphin IDs and joining in an interactive conversation led by Richard and Giulia about dolphin roles in barrier feeding.
We celebrated the field course with a beverage on the look-out spot near the old dining area before dinner and then, after dinner, we participated in a dolphin ID contest … see some comments below.
Marriah – I am really glad that all my dolphin studying paid off and I won the dolphin ID contest with 16 of 32 correct.
Liz – I am really glad that all my dolphin studying paid off and I got 4 out of 32 correct on the dolphin ID contest.
Daniel – I came second in the dolphin ID contest. I won the water bottle!
Shereen – I came in third in the contest but got no prize.
Amalia – Today was a really fun day. I’m sad the trip/field course is coming to an end.
Anna – I’m really going to miss getting up at 6 in the morning to go do the observations at Bailey’s Key and seeing Rocky’s little face.
Giulia – After these two weeks, I really look forward to learning more about dolphins.
Katariina – This course was a dream come true for me and I saw a ginormous parrot fish today.
Poppy – Today I saw two Christmas tree worms when I was snorkeling and I got 21.8% on the dolphin ID test.
Richard – Really glad to have been here and it stinks that this is the last blog post that we will write together.
Kristin – This was an amazing experience for the philosophers of animal mind. I look forward to the cetacean revolution in the field.
Manon – I am glad everyone enjoyed their two weeks and tried their best at dolphin ID.
Tomorrow morning is our last data observation session with some planned snorkeling before relaxing for the day before our long treks home on Sunday. It’s been an exhausting but exhilarating two weeks!
Until then,
Cheers
The York U team