Tag: older content

Wow. Saturday was HOT. But hot in Bimini usually means calm seas and today it was definitely calm! It felt like we could see forever… The dolphins, unfortunately were nowhere to be seen. We looked and we looked. And we looked some more. Then – splashes. Big splashes. Lots of splashes. Sure enough, it was dolphins! The group of Atlantic spotted dolphins was scattered, but relatively large with at least 15 individuals in the area. There were lots of bait fish and sea birds, but the dolphins did not seem interested in the small fish.

Friday morning began with a farewell to the UNB Squad. So, everyone reading is stuck with me again! It was a great week with the students – I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did! It was a quick turnaround as I joined another dolphin trip (www.biminiadventures.com). The sun was shining and the heat was up, but everyone was excited to see some dolphins! We were not disappointed and saw several different groups throughout the afternoon.

We departed the dock on Thursday at 930 to head to “Honeymoon Harbor” to feed and observe some southern stingrays. Immediately out of the harbor, we saw bottlenose dolphins! There appeared to be at least 36 in the group – very large for Bimini. We’ll work toward confirming this number when we look at the photographs. They were traveling north so we observed them as they passed by. We observed two fluke slaps and some porpoising.

We began our Wednesday discussing eco-tourism – the meaning of it as well as the pros and cons. We then did some more photo-ID on the previous day’s adventure. We confirmed the presence of Finn (#09), Romeo (#10), Lil’ Jess (#35), Tim (#69) and ID#92, as well as one other un-catalogued calf. After lunch we reviewed our video data from 2 and 4 May that involved lots of water – and dolphins. We identified Leslie (#80) from the video, which was not captured in any of the still photographs.  We left the dock at 15:29.

We began Tuesday with a discussion of last night’s movie and the concept of “play.” We moved onto a talk about the senses of dolphin senses. Some videos were shown illustrating different behaviors of several dolphin species. Our long lost, fellow classmate arrived just in time for some more photo-ID. We were able to confirm that Tim (ID#69) was present during Sunday’s observations.   We left the dock at 1529. On our way out of the harbor, some of us spotted an eagle ray cruising north. At 1704 we had our first sighting of six Atlantic spotted dolphins.

We began Monday learning about sampling methods for observing behavior and discussed how dolphins use sound to communicate in their ocean environment. We learned the role of their melon and air sacks for making sound and using echolocation. We then moved onto photo-ID of the photographs we took yesterday. We were able to confirm the following IDs: Romeo (#10), White Blotch (#29), Lil’Jess (#35), Nemo (#76), Speedy (#78), un-named #92 (#48’s calf) and possibly ID#71. White Blotch is pictured here with 2 young dolphins in the background. We departed the dock at 1527.

We kicked butt (over last year’s group!) during our morning Photo-ID practice session. We left the dock at 1411, heading out to the same snorkeling site as yesterday. Leaving the harbor we saw a mystery shark (bull?) and a manta ray! It was a dark manta, lacking the light coloration on its ventral side. These types are not generally seen around Bimini. While we were snorkeling, we found a stingray buried beneath the sand.

Saturday was Day 1 of the 2010 Field Course with University of New Brunswick! Half of the group arrived around 900, as they only had to travel from the “Shark Lab” on South Bimini, having just completed a course there. The rest of the group arrived later in the morning from Florida.

Friday’s dolphin trip was filled with enthusiastic passengers. We left the harbor shortly before 1600 with Bill & Nowdla Keefe. This winter has been particularly windy, so we were eager to be on the boat in calm seas! Our first sighting was of 3 – 4 bottlenose dolphins. The group was traveling and showed no interest in the boat. So, after a quick glimpse, we continued in search of more dolphins.

I was very excited to head out on Saturday’s dolphin trip with Nowdla Keefe as it had been quite awhile since I’d been out. It was a bit windier than the forecast had called for, but the boat was full of guests eager to see dolphins. The harbor was very busy because of Easter weekend and we were soon headed to the “dolphin grounds.” As often happens, the guests were beginning to lose hope and then….there were dolphins! At first we saw 2 adult Atlantic spotted dolphins.