Tag: older content

  This weekend was spent completely off the boat, but it gave us time to do some other things. We had our usual Saturday and Sunday phone calls to the aquarium—all of which went very well. We also did today’s phone call (Monday) in a swap with Kathleen.
    Then there have been video logs and IDs. We’ve also been helping with a display in Bimini Undersea’s dive shop.

   On Wednesday, we saw large splashes in the distance and upon investigation, we found a group of approximately 15 spotted dolphins. This group included 2 young dolphins (one unID C2 and #78) and the rest were adults (incl. #4 and possibly #11). Once in the water, Kelly saw that one of the adults had to have been the oldest dolphin she’d ever seen! It had so many spots on it, it was a little overwhelming.

This afternoon’s presentation went very well- again we have a group of passengers that is very interesting in learning all they can about the dolphins they are swimming with.
We found dolphins today at 19:00 and it was a group of younger spotted dolphins, one of which had a large scar on its peduncle, most likely from a shark attack. We had not yet seen this dolphin. There was also a class 3 who we have not yet been able to identify. The calf in the group stayed for a bit, never stopping its vocalizations.

 We were of course sad to see Justin off this morning, but the staff and locals here can now return to calling us the “dolphin girls.” We are also ecstatic to announce that the calf seen last week is in fact White Blotch’s (#29) and is a girl! We were again lucky enough to get some close looks at the little one and we estimate that she is 3 weeks to a month old. It has been so incredible to see such a young dolphin.

    Of course, as you all know by now, Sundays mean a new group of passengers, eager to see and swim with dolphins. This week, folks came from New Hampshire, New York, Colorado, New Mexico and England¡Xand what a great group they were! Many of the passengers were return guests and the first-timers really enjoyed themselves.

On Wednesday we didn’t see dolphins until 19:37 (we left the dock at 15:20). It was a mixed age and species group and included Hook (#57). We were only able to get into the water for a short encounter (< 3 minutes). There was leaping in the distance and the occasional bow ride. Then it was back to the dock.
    Today, our final trip of the week, we saw dolphins just 50 minutes into the boat trip.

We saw dolphins on the early side yesterday and today. Monday’s trip we were able to stay with a group of spotted dolphins (not in the water though) for almost 3 hours! It was amazing. Among the dolphins were #s 4, 10, 17, 22, 64, 69, 77, 78 and possibly #48. They were seen quite close to the island, but were traveling slowing south. We were able to get into the water between 19:07 and 19:34 with #s 4, 10, 22 and 64. We observed a lot of play and mating behavior.

Today the new group for the week arrived. We had our meet-and-greet, after the phone calls with Mystic and the folks seem great! The guests come from Canada, England and Japan. On today’s boat trip, we saw a group of 8 bottlenose dolphins. There were a couple younger ones in the group and some that we are getting used to seeing on a regular basis (one is almost completely missing its dorsal fin). They appeared to be crater feeding, but when passengers got in the water for a closer look, the dolphins weren’t interested.

  As soon as August arrives, we spend quite a bit of time watching local weather and the radar screen. This week the weather has at least been consistent in the fact that storms seem to roll in between 7 and 8:00 p.m. We now find ourselves missing our lovely July weather!
    Yesterday’s morning trip went off without a hitch, however no dolphins were seen. We have only a few morning trips each season, so it is hard determine why we didn’t see dolphins.

    Monday’s talk went very well! We are continually impressed with the interest and questions weekly passengers offer us. This week, we added a short, self-navigable PowerPoint presentation to show passengers some of our more easily identifiable dolphins. This allows them to help us ID animals out at sea. Unfortunately, bad weather followed yesterday’s talk and our afternoon trip was cancelled.
    But, have no fear! Today’s trip brought lots of smiles and gave us about 30 minutes of video.