Tag: older content

We began our day like the previous with data collection at the crack of dawn! It was a blustery morning with swirly, gusty winds. The dolphins were a bit more social with one another and, Kathleen reported, into their own thing more than paying her any attention. Our morning was spent pondering our individual research questions for our projects, intermixed with a bit of time soaking up the sun and trying our skill on the paddle boards. After a delicious lunch, we each (individually) spent time discussing our research questions and our data collection protocols with Dr.

Today was a packed day! We started at 6 AM at the water taxi to Bailey’s for data collection. We collected data before, during, and after Kathleen’s data collection session. We had a morning lecture and then an afternoon session meeting the dolphins and the trainers. Our evening was topped off with a night snorkel from a boat.

It’s 8:29 and we are barely awake as we write this field blog. We learned that previous school groups identified 8 PM as Roatan midnight. So, we have done the same and celebrated New Year’s already! Before we slumber and prepare for tomorrow, we will recap our day.
We started our day with a beautiful sunrise! We began our observations at Bailey’s Key at 6:16 AM and saw the orange sunrise that highlighted Dr. K, before Kathleen got into the water for data collection (see photo below).

Today, the Rams in Roatan did their first day of data collection, lectures, and snorkeling then finished off the long day with a presentation on fish identification.
One of the Rams told us that “waking up at 5am was totally worth it when we got to watch the dolphins for the first time and see the sunrise over the jungle.”
We were then able to take the field into the classroom as only one or two people started to doze off as the last bit of jetlag began to leave their brains.

 
Here is each student’s thought on today – travel and arrival to Roatan!
Kyler – it was worth the journal because of the ocean I saw when we arrived to AKR.

My bags are packed and I’m ready to go. Soon I’ll be leaving on a jet plane … Sound familiar? It’s a song … (though for the life of me I cannot at this moment remember the title or artist) but it also nicely describes my routine for preparing for three weeks in the field! I depart tomorrow early (!) for two back-to-back field courses followed by a week of research with two colleagues (Heather and Dee). John will join us on the third week to document our research and studies.

On Wednesday, I joined – in a somewhat unofficial capacity – a dolphin trip with Neal Watson’s Bimini SCUBA Center. As this is the off-season for dolphin trips, opportunities limited to search for DCP ID#104 (WDP’s “Lamda”), the Atlantic spotted dolphin who stranded in August, was rehab’d and then released in late October. I filled the guests in on #104 and my hope of the day…

Soon, there were dolphins! No #104, but it was a large group of bottlenose dolphins.

October is normally a very quiet month for DCP on Bimini. Research summary reports are drafted. Permit applications are prepped. Data are attempted to stay organized…This October brought a spike in activity. As you likely saw on social media and in our latest issue of The Dolphin Gazette, DCP ID#104 (also WDP’s ID “Lamda”), was found stranded in late August, far from Bimini. The report came into BMMRO and they called upon the rescue team from Atlantis. They assessed his condition and got him back in the water and off he went. But not for long.

Ho, ho, ho, holiday bonus! For every hard copy adoption kit, $35+ donation or $7.50+/month sustaining membership received between now & Dec 15th, you’ll receive a bonus pack of six marine life notecards!
This bonus is added to your order automatically – you won’t see anything in your cart.
And fear not – your financial support still comes straight to DCP.