Ferry cancelled, dolphin boats cancelled, everything cancelled IMAGE: A picture of Henk the giant spider who lives in our bathroom
It had to happen eventually – the weather finally turned nasty. Wind wind and more wind. The water was way too rough for any boating activity, so everyone stayed indoors. This gave me the chance to tackle the mountain of video logs that have been piling up. Again, not glamorous, but very much needed. I also squeezed in an evening of badminton.
So, we’ll catch up on data and wait out the stormsSo, it’s a quiet couple of days, except at night when the serious thunderstorms roll in. We’ll spend it catching up on data and other errands and planning for next week, when our first full dolphin week begins. Just like last year, we will have a group of people who will be with us on the boat all week (Sunday – Wednesday or Thursday).
Mikura dolphins were in the mood today IMAGE: Picture 1 is of #404 (Ketsushakure) with her head buried in some Tosaka, looking for fish.
This might just have been the coolest trip ever! Another rainy cloudy morning yada yada yada… you know the story by now. Luckily, the waves were much calmer and the water was nice and warm. We did not see a whale shark, which was unlucky, but we did stumble across a dolphin love-in.
Where is the sun? Today was our first morning trip of the season—a make-up trip for yesterday’s cancellation. Unfortunately, there were no dolphins. In fact, we only lasted about an hour on the boat before it was decided that we had to turn back and we were back to the dock before 11:00.
Mostly successful boat trip with the biggest wave ever! IMAGE: Hang up your boots – the sun is back!
Another boat trip this morning! My streak of trips continues… 10 days and counting.
It was raining again this morning (big surprise), but the sun actually came out in the afternoon much to my delight! I had actually forgotten what it looked like, and I had to have one of the local kids explain to me what the funny orange ball in the sky was.
Cancelled thanks to Mother Nature So, this morning was spent entering data sheets into the computer and getting ready for the afternoon trip. But, once we made our way down to the dock, it was pretty clear that the boat would not be going out.
A very long but productive day. IMAGE: Ketsushakure and Iganii; dolphin bouncers.
We were lucky enough to get out on the water with Ichiro-sensei again today. This trip was three and a half hours! A mammoth! We ran across a huge group of females with calves, including #064 (Yakedo-chan) who appeared to have a very young calf at her side. So teeny-weenie-tiny-ultra-small that it must not be more than a few days old. #404 (Ketsushakure) and #353 (Iganii) were really interested in the camera today.
A busy weekend here on Mikura – but lots of dolphins IMAGE: A picture of the Miyama Kuwagata beetle – found only on Mikura!
We went out this morning with Ichiro-sensei – a retired school worker who spends his days fishing. He was nice enough to offer me and another researcher space on his boat. Today he was out on the water doing a survey of all the dolphin watching boats – counting passengers, etc.
With no dolphins Today’s trip was filled with excited passengers, eager to see dolphins. Unfortunately, the seas had other plans for us. Our captain took us on an abbreviated pattern through the dolphin grounds in an attempt to keep the boat in the calmest situation possible. That didn’t prevent our youngest passenger from looking quite green.
I saw it all today – the dolphins were nuts! IMAGE: A good head scratching will make anyone's day…
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I had the morning free! No dolphin trip! I managed to get some shopping done – coffee, milk… the essentials. It was a beautiful day. A little overcast, but quite warm.
