Tag: older content

The sun came out! After which, Courtney got a good luck charm for the group in the form of sea gull poop on her shirt! We split into two groups for snorkel trips to “Shell Beach” off South Bimini. The first group saw lots of cool fish, some of which were hiding under rocks. We even saw an arrow crab and lizard fish. For some of us, this was our first time snorkeling off a boat.

On Sunday, 16 students (plus Professor Steve Turnbull, PhD and a student returning as TA) from the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) arrived in Bimini. About half of us had just wrapped up our amazing week at the SharkLab. All limbs accounted for! And minds = blown.

Wednesday was still quite breezy here in Bimini, but it was calm enough for an overdue dolphin trip with Bimini Adventures. We departed at 1500, hopeful, but realistic that we might need to turn back. Well, turn back we did not and, in case you weren’t sure, the title of this field report is very,… Continue reading My, my, are you feeling a bit shy?

Some of you may have seen my Facebook post earlier about this spring being bottlenose central…Well, it would appear the bottlenose wanted to be sure you got the message! On Thursday’s dolphin trip with Bimini Undersea, the seas were calmer and our patience was not tested. Early in the day we saw our first group of dolphins – at least eight bottlenose dolphins, including a few familiar faces. Well, okay, maybe not familiar faces, but their dorsal fins were familiar! We could tell pretty quickly that the group was crater feeding so into the water we went.

Thankfully, the weather calmed down enough for Wednesday’s dolphin trip with Bimini Undersea. As Adventurer headed out beneath sunny skies, I couldn’t help but notice how cheerful and engaging the day’s passengers were. As we weaved our way through the waves, I enjoyed my conversations and we all searched for dolphins. A couple of hours into the trip, most folks opted for a swim break, cooling off and reenergizing. It was on our way back toward Bimini that we saw the bottlenose dolphin.

Thursday afternoon’s dolphin trip with Bimini Adventures began like all trips – with high hopes and great passengers. The seas were calm and the sun was hot, so swim breaks were welcome. Not too far into the trip we came up a scattered bottlenose dolphin or two. But, aside from a few surfaces near the boat, it/they wanted nothing to do with us. So, we continued in search of others. Hopes were dwindling when we came upon another bottlenose dolphin, but sadly, this one showed no interest in us either.

Tuesday’s dolphin trip with Bimini Undersea was a beautiful one. We departed Bimini harbor shortly after 14:00 and were almost immediately greeted by bottlenose dolphins! At first we only saw one, then we saw a second…and soon we were up to five dolphins. They were a bit scattered and were not staying in one spot, so after 15 minutes of watching from the boat, we continued on.

Late last month I had the pleasure of visiting with the first round of students participating in Shedd Aquarium’s High School Marine Biology program. It was a great group – as was Wednesday’s! Both sets of students were engaged in the conversation and asked great questions….but then again, so did the teachers and boat captains!
Each year, I enjoy my visits with these groups. I appreciate their support and enthusiasm and the opportunity to share DCP’s work with them.

On Monday I joined a last-minute dolphin trip with Bimini Adventures. The boat was filled with excited kids and parents and we were all glad the seas were calm, and became even calmer as the day progressed. After two swim breaks and a couple hours of searching, we saw them! At first there were two Atlantic spotted dolphins – Stefran (#82) and an older calf/younger juvenile. Moments later Tina (#14) came to the bow.