Tag: older content

Can you believe we are into the 9th month of this first year of the new millenium! We had a bit of rain – just a drizzle today. Some of the passengers left for home and others will stay in the nearby hotel for a night. We may get together for dinner in Lucaya this evening and partake in some of the local entertainment. That is, dancing to lots of steel drums and enjoying a good Bahamian dinner. This week was low for ths number of sightings and encounters, likely because of the choppy seas.

Hanging on with both hands and watching the swells roll by. Doesn't it seem that my reports are more weather reports as opposed to dolphin reports? I guess that is the way of things when you are reliant on calm seas and light winds to actually conduct research. We left Sandy Cay a few hours early because the winds were still about 20 knots (FYI: 1.2mph = 1 knot) and we could see rolling white caps off in the distance. Exactly where we were headed.

We woke to calm seas … for a time. Our trip north encountered progressively increasing winds and seas. By the time we reached the northern most spot and had done a few searches east and west, we could not anchor nor could we safely enter or exit the water. It would seem that Father Neptune was a bit perturbed this week. That or we were experiencing the remnants of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby in the form of a weather wave.

We woke to ~4 foot swells with many white caps … but the sun also greeted us! The seas and wind both picked up and were at odd angles to one another thus creating a chop similar to a vigorous washing machine. If the sea state and wave height increased a bit, then it would make it unsafe for anyone to exit the water for the boat. Getting in to swim would be no trouble, but tackling the swim step would be another story when the dolphins had moved on. We hauled anchor and headed south.

You'd think that the Bahamas would always be sunny! Monday came with drizzle and clouds but the wind had lessened considerably and the seas were calm. We had anchored off Sandy Cay last night and continued our norhterly course at 9:00 AM … a nice trip actually and the clouds kept us comfortable. We saw another group of bottlenose dolphins – two of the same from yesterday with the scarred dorsal fin and the half pectoral fin. We all recognized them. We also saw a group of spotted dolphins mid-afternoon.

Lots of Squalls … but also one dolphin sighting. An intense flash of light followed by a loud crack of thunder woke me at 5:00 AM while we were still at port. The clouds were thick and covered the entire sky. In fact, this was the first morning that we were note greeted by the sun. It is a bit odd not to see the sun bright and early in the Bahamas … but rain does visit, however rarely.

Hurricane Debby now a tropical storm – whew! We had a day in port – the wind was blocked a bit by the trees and it was hard to believe that we would have a storm approaching. The morning was spent sharing the details of my array with the passengers and teaching them how to use my MVA in the pool. We practiced on each other … that is, we posed as dolphins for everyone. It was neat to see how everyone handled my array and how they swam with it.

Hurricane Debby has caused us to return to port early. We woke to news that Hurricane Debby might be heading our way. So, after lunch we hauled anchor and began our trip south. On our way, we stopped at the Sugar Wreck – remember the barge carrying sugar and molasses that sank in the 1920's? This time we saw a nurse shark and a large (1 meter across) green turtle. It swam around several of the people for about 30 minutes. We also saw many fish and …

We spend much time underwater observing. The 15 minutes was followed by a second 2.5 minutes with the same group of 6 dolphins. This third encounter was very special to me … At first we saw two two-toned, class 2 calves. They were playful and mimicked out behaviour and swimming. They circled us and head scanned and clicked at us. The young seem most curious about our 'split-fins.' Then, the calves' moms swam into view. I recognized Hook (#78) immediately. She has a distinct notch just below the top of her dorsal fin on the trailing edge.

Not much interest in us – but another new calf seen and several large groups. We had a slow morning – only one sighting of a single bottlenose dolphin seen by Pepe and me at about 6:30 AM. I love mornings and routinely watch the sun rise out here on the water. The seas were a bit more choppy this morning. We did a dinghy search and found a couple of groups of spotted dolphins. They were more interested in bow-riding the boat rather than swimming with us.