So, another day with another storm. The Bimini Undersea passengers entertained themselves with bike rides and windy ping pong and I chatted with a pair of honeymooning-divers about DCP and the Bimini dolphins. It is always so nice to talk with people who are so interested in the sea! By about 18:30, the seas had calmed, but it was too late to head out. The weather report says it should be nice tomorrow….We’ll see. Until then,
Tag: older content
Jinxed!
Beautiful day – no dolphins I jinxed myself today! Silly me. As I was going out the door on my way to meet the boat at the pier, I casually remarked; ‘What a perfect day for dolphin watching!” I thought this was a completely innocent statement: the seas were calm, there was no wind, it wasn’t too hot or cold, etc. Look at the above picture to see how gloriously calm the seas were today. But it is exactly these kinds of statements that the gods of irony are listening for.
STORMS!
06:00 and I am awake. Not because I can’t sleep. Not because I had a bad dream. Because there is water in the house! And not because the roof is leaking. And not because a pipe burst. But because it is raining and the wind is blowing so hard from the west that it is forcing the water into the house at every corner of our west-facing windows and doors! So, after every towel in the house was wedged into these corners, I was wide awake….
Dream day
Perfect conditions Mikura sure can keep you on your toes. Some days can be pretty trying: like the day before yesterday (my inaugural run of the season) where I was nearly comatose after 2 boat trips in terrible weather. Other days (like today) make dolphin research feel like a holiday at a 5 star hotel where dolphins just jump out of the water begging to be filmed while you sip strawberry daiquiris by the poolside. Metaphorically speaking of course.
The second
Well, I am officially roommates with Kathy DeStefano again! I am getting settled in at our new accommodations, the “Dolphin House.” How fitting is that? I think it is going to be a great place to live- plenty of room, clean, bright, close to the docks and stairs to the roof! Too cool… And of… Continue reading The second
The hooligans
Return of the prodigal sons No boat trips today – the sea was pretty rough. I took advantage of my day on shore to do some video analysis. It is an unglamorous task whereby I go through the video frame by frame and try to determine the ID of each of the dolphins that appear on-screen. It is often quite difficult if there is no obvious scarring on the dolphin or if the picture quality is poor. But a mammoth session allowed me to ID the entire video I collected from yesterday’s trips.
Dolphin researchers at the shark lab?
So, today marked the end of the field portion of Coastal Ecosystems. Around 12:00 the APU group headed over to the south island for a quick visit to Dr.
Happy Mother
First boat trip(s) of the season! I can now put my fear that this might be a slow season to rest. I piled on two boat trips today! That makes me a bit of a glutton for punishment – the weather was terrible. Huge swells and constant rain. And it was cold! Very very cold. Although I am not prone to seasickness, I was feeling pretty queasy on the boat and in the water as well – the swells made for some strong currents under the water – a bit like riding an underwater roller coaster.
Saturday trip
Thursday night Leslie, Kathleen & I had a nice dinner at Sarah’s (aka Sandbar, aka End of the World). VERY tasty lobster & mushroom pizza. Then it was up early on Friday to see Kathleen off at the ferry. She is now near Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas with DCP researcher Kristy Beard. They are returning to Dolphin Encounters (DE) to gather more data on the bottlenose dolphins there. For those of you who may remember, Kathy DeStefano, Darcie & I were there for a brief, preliminary visit in 2004.
Daikon disaster
No dolphins yet So my first boat trip of the season will have to wait another day. The weather is not being very cooperative – it is cold and windy. Not many boats out on the water today, so I wasn’t able to find a ride. I did however stop by the school only to learn that Tanaka-sensei (the energetic English teacher I worked with last year) is now back in Tokyo teaching at another school.
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