Our data collection session started about 20 minutes late: at 06:54 AM because of rain. My team is dedicated and spent part of their observation session standing on the dock in the rain. Almost as soon as our early morning session was done, the clouds parted. The underwater visibility was good, which allowed me to see the dolphins from a distance and document their interactions.
Mrs. Beasley at first seemed playful but then a bit irritated with a few of the younger males.
Mr. French was the main individual poking and prodding me this morning. He even opened his mouth on my left arm. I was not paying attention to him, even then. Soon he lost interest in me as I was too boring. This is good as I prefer to have the dolphins ignore me so that I can record how they interact with each other.
Bill and I were up early and I was in the water by 06:40 AM to begin recording the dolphins’ behavior and interactions. It was a good session and the underwater visibility was better than yesterday. The younger individuals still are more inquisitive than not about me and my camera, but I am also recognizing the individual marks more readily to know exactly who is poking and prodding me! Ronnie, Anthony, Ken and Bill are often culprits.
The dolphins have no concept of “personal space”! Or maybe they did not think I needed any as they were all over me and around me during the first 30 minute session this morning. The cacophony of sound was intense and filled with whistles, click trains and some odd squawk-like sounds that were not aggressive. Maury leaped over me or next to me several times.
Bill S. has been helping to coordinate the DCP eco-tours for 6 or 7 years now. He and I met up at IAH airport in Houston and traveled together to Roatan. Our flight was delayed about an hour but that was fine with us as we are now on island time. Everything is “ish”. We were greeted with high humidity and temps upward of 91F.
We got to Roatan and Anthony’s Key Resort (AKR) by about 2 pm and I was out to Bailey’s Cay visiting the dolphins and trainers for the late afternoon program by 2:30.
Hello from Bimini! I’m sorry it has been so long since I have written! Unfortunately, the internet has been down for over a week, but thankfully Bimini Undersea has service and is happy to share…. The UNB course was a huge success! We had a lot of firsts and I am sure the dolphins spoiled the students. In 5 trips, we saw mixed species groups almost every day! And the mixed groups were large with at least 10 individuals of each species.
Happy “cinco de mayo” to everyone reading! Today is also called “pack for Roatan” for Kathleen. I have the array (MVA4), tapes, mask, fins, snorkel and shorty wetsuit set out near my bright orange gear case. I have the datasheet copies ready, information about our studies in Roatan, copies of reprints, slates, sunblock, and more ready to be packed.
DCP is proud to announce the latest issue of the Dolphin Gazette – DCP’s quarterly newsletter. Download the May 2009 issue as a PDF here. In an effort to reduce the consumption of paper, the Dolphin Gazette is now available exclusively in electronic (PDF) format.
Well, it was a busy week! The weather wasn’t on our side, but we were able to see a second set of bottlenose dolphins on Tuesday’s boat trip. They put on a nice surfing show! Mid-week was spent preparing for our first university-level field course. Today (Friday) I was joined by 14 students & their professor from the University of New Brunswick. It was a busy day settling in, getting orientated and then heading out to the dolphin grounds. There was still a chop on the sea, but the conditions were much more favorable.
Today was a dolphin-less boat trip and the strong east winds kept us from “the dolphin grounds” again. But, we did cruise the length of the island hoping for another chance to observe the bottlenose.
