Hack and fly Today’s boat trip was fantastic. The sun was shining and the water was almost not-freezing! My first few entires were close to the pier as we followed a large group of socializing mothers with their calves. #161 Koshakure was there again (she is everywhere this year), together with #145 – Y-chan. Dokkiri was babysitting Y-chan’s 1 year old calf while Y-chan was busy swimming circles around me. At one point, she started to open her mouth. I immediately started to think what this meant – what kind of signal was she trying to send.
Tag: older content
E.T. no phone home
We are still waiting for our phone to be hooked up. We started the morning early with a trip to the phone company before our morning phone link to the aquarium. It was a small crowd, but good to “see” Kristy & Tabby, DCP’s new intern. Then it was home for a quick lunch before visiting the local Catholic school. The teachers & students were very welcoming & armed with lots of good questions. Later that day, we were met on the street by smiling children who thanked us for the visit.
Waves are just swell!
Dolphins a’frolickin’ in the waves
IMAGES: #161 Koshakure with seaweed
Today’s boat trip did not yield as much video data as I would have liked. I blame it on the waves. The water was slightly rough on the east side of the island, which attracted large numbers of dolphins. Unfortunately, dolphins are way too super excited by waves to take much of an interest in humans. They spent their time surfing the waves into shore. They will swim a few hundred meters offshore, and then ride the waves into the shallows, sometimes leaping in the air.
Some time to relax
Well, our hopes for a walk-in dolphin trip for Saturday were not met. But, on Friday, Maria was able to join one of Bimini Undersea’s snorkel trips and see some of Bimini’s ocean life beyond the dolphins. Kel spent the day attempting to sort out our phone hook-up (or lack thereof). Simple tasks like this usually work on island time as well! Then, we had dinner with some of the dolphin week passengers and will be sad to see them go!
Playful dolphins
Seaweed is way cool
Today’s boat trip was quite pleasant. The water was very calm, although one passenger was sick – there is always one sick passenger.
Dolphin magic wand
Marine mammals love the MVA
Today’s trip was somewhat of a bust. The water was quite murky and the dolphins were not interested. It was calm weather you see, and dolphins seem to slow down in calm weather. Only big waves seem to get them excited. Oh, and little frog – my underwater camera: it is a cross between a dolphin lighting rod and a magic wand.
A little bit of everything
We started off our trip with a clear sky but choppy waters. Right off the island we spotted some very playful bottlenose dolphins and decided to try to swim with them. To our surprise, they did not swim away (bottlenose tend to be more shy than the spotteds in this area) but instead gave us a few good looks. We even saw a mother and calf! We finished with that encounter and continued looking for other groups.
An electric trip
Today’s weather was filled with storms & squalls, but nothing too bad. The boat went out as scheduled, but returned early. Why, you ask? Well, we had our first experience with well charged surroundings! As the boat crew was preparing to anchor at the snorkel stop of the day, we noticed that everyone’s hair was literally standing straight up. Then, the radio antenna began to hum. So, the boat & radio were immediately turned off, with everyone instructed not to touch anything metal!
Nice conditions and a new neonate
A young mother
The weather today was pretty nice. It was sunny all morning and in the afternoon, which heated up the water a degree or two. I had two boat trips and managed a fair amount of video. We came across a large group of resting dolphins today, and Nana-chan spotted a neonate in the group. The mother was identified as Hibiware! Hibiware is a young female – only 9 years old or so – and this is her first calf. We saw a lot of her last year together with her friends Ringo-chan and Dokkiri.
Dolphin Extravaganza!
Today we started the day with a trip to Gateway Academy, one of the local schools, to check in with the principal about our upcoming visit and presentation. That is scheduled for the 12th of June and we are very excited! Then it was another follow up with the phone company but still no luck. After a quick lunch at home, we headed to the dock for our weekly presentation. It was a small but interested crowd. The boat then left at 1500 and by 1700 we were with the spotteds.