AM data collection still brought really bad underwater visibility, but Kami and Georgie decided to tightly circle swim Kathleen. The featured photo is Kami watching Kathleen … who was really making the behavior observations here? The dolphins were quiet for the first half of the session and then seemingly suddenly woke up and were breaching and slapping pecs and bodies on the surface. This was when Kami and Georgie were whistling like crazy and circling Kathleen.
After breakfast, we grabbed our gear and boarded the Dona Yita for a snorkel trip. We passed several mangrove areas and stopped at the Snyg shipwreck in Pristine bay. It is very shallow with portions of the ship above water. There were lots of colorful fish and three Frigatebirds had claimed the highest portions above water.
After observing the wreck and sea creatures near her, we moved a bit south to a sandy patch and got to meet a few sea stars. They were the biggest ones most of us had ever seen.
Just before lunch we had a talk from Samir Galindo, GM and proprietor of AKR. He shared with us some of the story of how AKR came to be and some of their sustainability programs. We learned much and appreciated his time.
After our snorkel and classroom session, we were hungry and lunch was welcome. The afternoon brought us the dolphin ID practice with the morning video, a presentation by Teri Bolton, RIMS, about operant conditioning and the dolphins, and then a chat with Don, retired veterinarian and DCP Board Member.
It was a great day!!
Gabe – Today I held a sea start the size of my head and got insight into the dolphin training process.
Tasha – Learning the ways that they train the dolphins, such as symbol training was really eye opening and interesting.
Anson – I got to snorkel by a shipwreck today and it was magnificent.
Ellie – Today, I listened to one of the most interesting talks ever (about dolphin training) and I managed to get cut by a sea star.
Christian – Today I could confidently add sea starts to the list of animals that freak me out.
Caroline – Yesterday I was really intrigued by the orca research video and today I saw the prettiest parrotfish and jelly.
Laura – I really enjoyed learning about the resort and all of the sustainability measures they are taking and I really look forward to applying it back in the states.
Abby – I had a star fish for the first time and I did not know they were sharp and pointy on one side.
Nathalie – Today I learned about dolphin solo innovation training and I can check off my bucket list seeing a shipwreck from in the water.
Anna – I am excited that I can finally start identifying the dolphins in the research videos. I was also intrigued to learn about how they are taken care of.
Lucy – I’m really glad that we got to ride a bigger boat because it was neat to see all the clear water on the way to our snorkel spot.
Don – Moray Eel
Paige – Epic day under water.
Manon – I enjoyed watching two Frigatebirds sitting on the shipwreck that seemed to be judging the swimming skills of the students around them.
Shane – Deep gratitude to Samir, Teri and Don for taking time to speak with our students today.
Tomorrow is our last full day!
Cheers
Kathleen, Manon, Don & the CSU Bubble Guppies!