Tag: older content

So Monday’s trip started with looming rain to the west of us, but don’t worry it broke up throughout the trip and we never felt a drop! We proceeded out for a delightful snorkel swim at a location thought (by some) to be part of the lost city of Atlantis. After a 30 minute exploration… Continue reading Boat full of people, ocean full of dolphins…

We spent Sunday morning beginning our review of 2008 video data for DCP’s on-going pectoral fin study. The dolphin trip was not scheduled until 1600, but started off with a bang – a bottlenose sighting only 20 min.

Saturday’s dolphin trip was quite the adventure! The day began with a nice snorkel swim at “3 Sisters” for about 30 minutes and then it was on to the real show. We got a glimpse of our first group of about 5 Atlantic spotted dolphins at 1737. Then our trip was filled with a very large (at least 30!) group of spotted dolphins, including a number of young calves. Everyone onboard was amazed at how rare a site they were seeing and an even more rare experience in the water with them.

Sunday’s dolphin trip, Vicki’s and Alexis’ first, was filled with bottlenose. After telling the interns and the passengers how little we know about Bimini’s bottlenose dolphins, how unpredictable and skittish they can be, etc., everyone got to observe them under water for TWO HOURS! It was amazing. Kel filled the memory card of the surface camera. Alexis’ camera battery died. Vicki nearly filled her camera. The MVA recorded 30 minutes of data. And we were all exhausted.

Today began with a guest talk to Shedd Aquarium’s high school marine biology field program. I shared details about DCP, the dolphins and how I came to be in this field. Soon after, I met up with the 2009 summer interns, Alexis and Vicki, who arrived on Bimini this morning. Stay tuned for field reports from them! Then, at about 1300 the phone rang with news of a 1600 dolphin swim. I pulled together my gear and headed down to the dock. The afternoon began with a strong east wind, but it wasn’t too bad in the dolphin grounds.

What a great final day for this dolphin week! On Thursday, we saw some dolphins just after 1700. It was a group of 4 youngsters, including un-named #84, who were playing with each other and seaweed. In the distance we could see several other dolphins, but they did not approach the boat. We observed the young group under water for over 20 minutes until two older dolphins cruised through and appeared to lead the young dolphins away. Back on the boat we renewed our search and quickly came upon a group of 5 bottlenose dolphins.

Wednesday’s trip again included an extended snorkel stop and lunch for the guests. On our way, we were treated to some bottlenose which we observed from the boat. I have yet another folder of pictures to sort through! At one point in our afternoon of searching, we came across a group of adults, including Lumpy (#17) and un-named #75, both adult males. Lil’ Jess (#35) was also on the periphery of this group, with a fresh, but relatively shallow injury to the right side of her peduncle.

Tuesday was another fantastic day. It started “early” with a post-lunch dolphin talk with the passengers. They had great questions and stories to share – thank you! By 1530 it was time to leave the dock and although it took some time to find the dolphins, dolphins we found. The overall numbers were large (at least 15?) but as the individuals were scattered it was difficult to get a firm count. We did see Lil’ Jess (#35), Split Jaw (#22), un-named #91 and several calves and adults.