Tag: older content

Thursday began with the second morning trip of the week. I joined the small group with high hopes of another morning success. Unfortunately, we searched, and searched…and searched, but found no dolphins. After a quick lunch, a squall came through and delayed our afternoon departure. Luckily we were able to head out shortly after 16:00. It was the 7th trip in five days, so although I was a little tired, I was still eager for dolphins. It was a lot of searching that ended in an 11th hour sighting.

Wednesday began with an ‘Intro to DCP’ talk to the students visiting at Sea Crest Hotel & Marina. They were a wonderful audience and I hope they are enjoying their exposure to Bimini’s dolphins. I was particularly eager for the afternoon dolphin trip as it was my 500th official dolphin trip (DCP’s 517th since 2003). I am so grateful for the space provided by Bimini Undersea and Al Sweeting, Jr. Thank you!
The trip began with a snorkel stop at “The Bimini Road” (aka “Atlantis”).

Tuesday began with a rare morning trip in search of Bimini’s dolphins. Although the seas were once again not as calm as forecasted, it was definitely workable. We headed out quite far and on our way back to Bimini we saw them! Our first group was six dolphins – three mother/calf pairs. I am pretty sure the moms were Cerra (#38), Niecey (#48) and Stefran (#82). Two of the calves have markings so we’ll see if they are permanent enough to allow us to add those youngsters to our catalog.

Monday I was able to join Sea Crest’s visiting researcher and her class in search of dolphins. The seas were not as calm as forecasted, but we did see dolphins fairly early in the day and for quite awhile. We knew right away that we were observing bottlenose dolphins, but I found their bowriding and spyhopping behavior strange… I then noticed the very white patch on one individual’s peduncle, a characteristic common among offshore (aka oceanic) bottlenose dolphins.

Sunday’s trip with Bimini Undersea was filled with friendly, happy guests, all eager to see the Atlantic spotted dolphins of Bimini. Unlike much of last week, the seas were calm and the skies were clear. Our day brought us quite a few dolphin sightings, including three separate mother/calf pairs (1st: unknown mother, 2nd: likely Niecey – #48, 3rd: suspected, but not confirmed Leslie – #80). We were able to see two of these pairs under water. It always feels like an extra special privilege to see such young dolphins.

Friday began with a farewell to the remaining two DCP summer interns. Alexis & Sabena departed Bimini this morning and I’m already missing their assistance! For me, I had to prep for an afternoon dolphin trip – it seemed the skies were finally going to stay clear. Well, not only did the skies stay clear, but the seas relaxed to a wonderful calm state. We departed Sea Crest Hotel & Marina shortly after 15:00 and were pleased to be in the company of Atlantic spotted dolphins within an hour.

The DCP team split up between two boat trips again on Tuesday. It has been so exciting to be able to collect data on two different boats on the same day this year! Kel left the dock early at 11:17 and although no dolphins were sighted, the passengers were able to enjoy a sunny day at sea and a couple of swim breaks. As soon as the group returned to the dock, Al and Kel turned right back around to make another attempt at retrieving the SM2M PAM device. Previous attempts were thwarted by strong currents.

After several eventful boat trip days the DCP team has switched researching in the field to processing data indoors as the remnants of Tropical Storm Emily passed by. TS Emily was forecasted to be in full force but thankfully dissipated into a little bit of wind and today, a whole lot of rain, that kept us inside. We may be low on sunshine and good weather but we are well supplied with data! Sabena and Alexis continued working on data projects such as the bottlenose photo-ID catalog and sighting data from the previous string of boat trips.