Today began a “traditional” dolphin week- that is, those that begin Sunday & end Thursday. We met up with our small group of passengers, keeping a watchful eye on the skies. We think this group, despite being small, will be very engaging…. Unfortunately, the south winds continued to pick up & the crew opted to cancel today’s trip. But, not all is lost! It just meant rum punch & the DCP presentation for our travel weary guests. Hope the weather calms for tomorrow- it’s a double! Until then,
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Presentation is a no-go
We were scheduled to give our weekly DCP presentation today, but no one was interested. That is always a bit disheartening, but we understand that this group of passengers has particularly demanding days, so we just chatted with folks on the boat. The trip began with a snorkel stop at Atlantis & everyone was very happy to see that the seas were much calmer. So, out to the dolphin grounds we went- and we were not disappointed! We had a group of 16 spotteds, of which we knew 10 of them!
Two trips for the price of one?
It was up bright & early for us today- which doesn’t happen very often in Bimini! We had a trip with a group of walk-ins. We left the dock shortly after 08:00 and had dolphins before 09:00. It was a peculiar group- 2 spotted mother/calf pairs with 2 juvenile bottlenose. We may have gotten a good shot or 2 of bottlenose dorsal fins- at least we hope so. Once the passengers (and the MVA!
Playing with fire
Another great trip today – with ~23 minutes of video recorded. We found a large group of adult and subadult males and females socializing by Subarune. They were hanging around a large patch of seaweed, going down for the occasional rub. At one point, one of the large males in the group became quite agitated – though he didn’t appear to be disturbed by the presence of the tourists in the water. It looked more like an internal dolphin disagreement.
A busy day
Today was filled….the morning brought a test phone call with the aquarium for this summer’s “Dolphin Highlights” program. For those of you who have been following since 2004, a film showcasing dolphin behavior & DCP’s research is shown in a small theatre at the aquarium. As part of this program, there is a live phone link with us in Bimini! Everything went well with today’s test & the program begins for real next Wednesday! Next, we took the MVA to the beach.
Gruesome cookie-cutter shark bite!
Another new mom So I have had two trips in the last two days with one more scheduled for tomorrow morning. That will bring my total this year up to 34 (3 more than last season), and I still have a couple of weeks to go! Fantastic! I recorded lots and lots of video today and yesterday. Today’s trip was with Ichiro-sensei; a special trip with just dolphin researchers – 4 of us in total. It was kind of nice with just the researchers I must admit – the whole process seemed to run much more smoothly.
Water Test #2
Today a new group of dolphin passengers arrived….hmmm…does that imply that our passengers are dolphins? Anyway, it is a diverse group this week who are all part of a “make-a-wish”- type foundation. We have three autistic passengers, ranging from 9-30-something years old with their families & caretakers. It will mean an intense, demanding week for… Continue reading Water Test #2
Housing & Camera Work
So after yesterday’s stressful day, we spent today giving some love & affection to the MVA & camera. The camera is living in the air conditioning & was wiped down with rubbing alcohol. The MVA was aired out, cleaned out & the o-rings were inspected. We then took the MVA, without the camera, to the local hotel pool for a water test. No water. Tomorrow, we’ll see if the camera turns on & do more water tests with the MVA. We also took care of some much needed updates in the dive shop.
A new calf!
Fun in the sun. I had a boat trip scheduled for yesterday morning, but some rather nasty weather conditions ended up keeping all dolphin watching boats in port. The ferry was cancelled as well. Mother Nature decided to make up for this by providing us with a gorgeous day today! It was warm and sunny, and we saw plenty of dolphins! We encountered that same group with subadult females and adult males again! That is 3 times in one week which officially makes it a ‘trend’ in my mind.
Happy Birthday Kathy!!!
This morning was quiet & relaxing for Kath’s birthday. This afternoon was stressful. We went out on the boat and everything was going fairly normally. Then we realized that water visibility was dropping & dropping quickly. It almost looked as if there was some sort of algal bloom because the water was such a thick consistency and green color. We therefore stayed closer to shore where it was more like watered down pea soup. We found dolphins & hopped in the water, but couldn’t see a thing.
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