The underwater visibility was much improved today. I was able to enter for three sessions and collect about an hour of data. I began my day with Dot, Chippy and Jake. Chippy was very curious and checked me out often. Jake and Dot were a bit less curious of me, but it could have been that they had also just finished breakfast.Almost immediately after my first session, I was able to observe Nina, Stormy and Gussie Mae. They were in a different pool but were very laid back about me in there to observe them.
Tag: older content
Dolphins! Lots of buzzing and whistling
Today was a great day because I was able to get in the water a couple of times and record dolphin behavior and sounds. My first entry was with Nina and Stormy in one of the back area pools. They were on a date, as it were. Nina is an adult female and Stormy a young adult male. They were curious about me and the array but with passing click trains and belly-up swims. Very neat to be back in the water. My second entry was with Soca and Miss Merlin: two females with lots of personality.
In The Bahamas, almost to Nassau
I was able to spend a couple of days in Abaco. It was wonderful, even if Hurricane Ida seemed to have kept the wind and seas a bit choppy. Or maybe I am just blaming Ida for the weather since she is the latest Hurricane I have encountered in a particular season!
I’ll be on Nassau this evening and out to Blue Lagoon Island tomorrow (Tuesday) to begin this session of data collection observing the dolphins at Dolphin Encounters. It’ll be quite nice to see our friends (both dolphin and human) again this season.
Squidoo Thanksgiving Cookoff!
Squidoo is giving DCP another chance to win some much needed cash – but we can’t do it without your help!Each day until Thanksgiving, Squidoo.com will donate $1,000 to one of their registered charities. On Thanksgiving day, they will be giving away a whopping $5,000! In order for a charity to be eligible to win the cash prize, someone (maybe you?) has to create a “Squidoo lens” (AKA webpage) about a Thanksgiving food related topic. It could be the Ultimate Thanksgiving Gravy, secret stuffing, a goofy or unexpected Thanksgiving food tradition, etc.
Bahamas Bound!
Tomorrow morning I head to The Bahamas and will begin collecting data on the dolphins at Dolphin Encounters a few days after arrival. It is indeed fall in New England and I am very glad to be spending a brief period in The Bahamas.
Bottlenose Neonate? Check!
I spent my day off on the boat. I didn’t mean to see dolphins, but there they were! It was a large group of bottlenose dolphins. They were fairly scattered and traveling slowing.
Sport Diver article
Check out Sport Diver magazine’s interview with DCP director Kathleen Dudzinski – download the PDF.
Back to Bimini….Back on the Boat
After some time away, I returned to Bimini just in time for a dolphin trip. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to prepare the MVA, but I took advantage of the chance to take some still photographs for our ID catalog. A group of 7-8 Atlantic spotted dolphins were soon seen just off the bow! In this group were Swoosh (#36), un-named #25 and this as-of-yet un-ID’d adult, all with what appeared to be their own calves. Un-named #91 was also in the group and all of the dolphins were playing each other and the plentiful seaweed.
Wow.
Sunday’s dolphin trip was, well, incredible. The seas were flat clam and the water was crystal clear – well, except for what looked like jellyfish post-blender. We headed out on the early side (14:21) and by 14:58 we had at least 25 dolphins in our sights. They were on the move, but I was able to ID Romeo (#10), White Blotch (#29), Lil’ Jess (#35), Lone Star (#56), Billy (#64), and un-named #78.
Dolphin Trip #60!
Today’s surprise dolphin trip was the 60th of 2009! At first glance, I thought the sea conditions were going to result in a bumpy ride, but I was pleasantly surprised. We had to be patient today as we waited for the dolphins. First, we saw two spotteds and I believe Tina (#14) was one of them. They were surfing the small swells though and did not show any interest in the dolphin boat. Shortly after that we saw another group of dolphins.