DCP is pleased to offer two different university-level field courses in 2012. Which one is right for you?

Ethological Studies – Marine & Terrestrial:
Field dates: 20 – 31 May
Remote learning dates: 1 – 11 June
Cost: $2,450 (does not include tuition or airfare to Fort Lauderdale, FL)

This exciting field course, taught in conjunction with Georgetown College, will explore topics including operant conditioning, social behavior, learning, mirror recognition and more. Interactions with wild dolphins off Bimini, Bahamas as well as dolphins at Dolphin Encounters (Nassau, Bahamas) will provide opportunities for real-life observations and illustrations of course topics. For more information on this course, click here.

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Field Course in Cetacean Ecology
Field dates: 30 May – 11 June
Remote learning dates: 21 – 29 May and 12 – 18 June
Cost: $4,270 (Includes 3 credit hours tuition, but does not include airfare to Bimini, Bahamas)

Our second and equally exciting course will be led by Sacred Heart University and provide an introduction to dolphin biology and behavior as well as research techniques such as photo-identification of individuals. The wild dolphins off Bimini, The Bahamas will be your study subjects, with students having the opportunity to collect and ID photographs, contributing to DCP’s long-term photo-ID catalog. For more information on this course, click here.

After reading this issue of The Dolphin Gazette, you'll feel up to date on all of our research in The Bahamas - at Dolphin Encounters and off Bimini. You'll feel confident telling your co-workers about the SM2M, and you'll be telling every college student you know to sign up for our May field course. The list goes on, but it's probably better if you go ahead and read it yourself. Then forward it to all of your friends.

Click here to download the final issue of 2011!
 

Kathleen and Kel just returned from a whirlwind trip to Nassau, Bahamas. We arrived on Friday 4 November and were back on a plane Tuesday 8 November. In this short time we continued our data collection efforts at Dolphin Encounters on Blue Lagoon Island. Although we normally use our MVA to record video and acoustic data, this time we brought along our newest piece of equipment, the SM2M. You might remember the SM2M from our summer work in Bimini and this was our first chance to test it in a more controlled setting. The SM2M is a passive acoustic monitoring unit (you might hear these referred to as PAM units) passed to us by the folks at Wildlife Acoustics. Mother Nature made sure we did not second guess our choice to leave the trusted MVA behind; the wind picked up by day two and underwater visibility was almost non-existent! This photo was taken on day one – when we could still see the SM2M (secured to the piling) and the young male dolphin cruising past it! We completed 5 separate deployments of the SM2M; three were day deployments and two were overnight deployments and all five were in different locations. This will give us a sense of both ambient noise conditions and dolphin vocalizations. Lots of analysis ahead!

Radhika Makecha was our gracious host and we got plenty of brainstorming done for our May 2012 field course with Dr. Rebecca Singer (Georgetown College). And of course, a huge thank you to everyone at Dolphin Encounters for welcoming us once again and being so accommodating to our research goals. We look forward to our continued work at your facility!

Cheers,
Kathleen & Kel

It's official folks, ID#094 has a name: Noodle! "Noodle" is the independent offspring of White Blotch (#29) and was seen several times during this past summer. And now, you can be one of the first to adopt Noodle, just click here! Your adoption kit includes a personalized adoption kit, photos and biography of Noodle, DVD of Bimini dolphins, including Noodle, and much more. All for just $30!

Noodle was named by DCP supporter (and Kel's dad), Dave Melillo.

Monday brought with it a last minute dolphin trip. As I waited on the dock for Bimini Undersea, I saw the rain clouds creeping in. Sure enough there was a shower, but it did nothing more than delay us. Soon we were departing the harbor under sunny skies. We did not have to wait too long and there they were – dolphins splashing in the distance. As we got closer we realized we were watching bottlenose dolphins. It was difficult to get an accurate count of how many there were – they were zipping all over the place, not keeping any particular direction or pattern. Suddenly we weren’t watching bottlenose dolphins – we were watching spotteds! We saw Swoosh (#36) and her older calf as well as a juvenile. The youngsters occasionally came to the boat, but overall, these dolphins were not too interested in us. A bit later, we saw more spotteds, including Tilly (#87) and un-named #93 and #95. I think that Cerra (#38) and her calf might have been there, but I wasn’t able to get a good enough look to be sure. We did get a quick, friendly look at #95 and another juvenile. It was great!

Cheers,
Kel

The winds have not really let up here in Bimini, but thankfully, dolphins like big seas! On Monday we headed out early, for a snorkel stop and lunch aboard the boat. We weren’t sure if we would see any dolphins, given the conditions, but we did get to watch some bottlenose dolphins from the boat. Tuesday followed a similar pattern, but included even more dolphins! We saw bottlenose dolphins on and off throughout the day, including this mother/calf pair. There were two calves in the group and at least one still had fetal folds, which I did not confirm until reviewing the photos. As always, this means lots of photo-ID work to come! Toward the end of the day we were greeted by two Atlantic spotted dolphins, Split Jaw (#22) and Tim (#69). It was great to see these guys surfing the waves and riding the bow.

Until next time,
Kel

Sunday marked the start of an October dolphin week with Sea Crest Hotel & Marina. Although the winds were stronger than we would have liked, everyone was excited and happy to be in Bimini. We began with a brief snorkel stop and as soon as the anchor was set, we were greeted by a friendly young green turtle. Everyone was careful and respectful (no chasing, no touching) as we enjoyed the close views of this little ‘guy.’ About halfway through our search for dolphins, a passenger’s bag fell overboard. We stopped the boat and maneuvered to recovery it. As the bag re-boarded the vessel, dolphins appeared! At first we watched four bottlenose dolphins, surfing the waves as they disappeared and reappeared. Then, suddenly, there were more – a total of at least 10 bottlenose dolphins! We were able to enjoy the bottlenose dolphins for nearly 40 minutes before heading back towards Bimini. On the way, spotteds appeared! The seas were still too rough for a swim for us, but we enjoyed watching a single adult (un-named #40?) and three calves. Only one calf is likely hers; she would have been ‘babysitting’ the other two youngsters. We also got a quick glimpse of Romeo (#10) before returning to the dock just after sunset.

Looking forward to the rest of the windy week,
Kel

Saturday began a late season dolphin week with Bimini Undersea. I joined the group and very much enjoyed our conversations throughout the trip (thank you!). The guests took an early swim break, marveling at the ‘Bimini blue’ shade of the ocean. Not long after, we saw dolphins! At first we just saw two calves, but we were alert, looking for their mothers. Sure enough we saw them as the two (presumably) mother/calf pairs came together. They seemed to be pursued by a single bottlenose dolphin, but it is always a challenge to suggest what is really going on when observing from the boat. It was great watching the dolphins from the boat, even as the bottlenose dolphin departed and the two mother/calf pairs split up. We’re all looking forward to more trips in the coming days.

Until then,
Kel

On Sunday afternoon, I departed Sea Crest Hotel & Marina to redeploy Wildlife Acoustics’ SM2M passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) device. After getting our hands on this nifty gadget (thank you Wildlife Acoustics!) our first Bimini deployment was in July. The unit recorded successfully (phew!) and after taking a quick peek at the data, we made a few minor adjustments and waited for another chance to put it back at sea. Sunday was the day and only minutes from the chosen site, we saw dolphins! We didn’t want to ‘waste’ time until after the unit was secured, so we ignored them – believe me, that was a serious personal challenge! But, the task at hand was the task at hand. Thankfully, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t from deployment #1, so it was a pretty smooth process. Once the unit was all set, we got ready to pull anchor….and saw dolphins! Of course, I no longer needed to be quite so sensible, so I donned my snorkel gear and grabbed the still camera, hoping to get a photo of the dolphins checking out the ol’ SM2M. Apparently these juvenile dolphins, including Speedy (#78), Tilly (#87) and un-named #97, were too cool for the SM2M. Although they didn’t appear to directly investigate the unit, we’ll be able to hear their (few) vocalizations once it’s recovered.

Not longer after this first water entry, we caught up with the dolphins again and who appeared to be in two subgroups. I think Speedy was in one, while Leslie (#80) and her calf and Tilly and un-named #97 were in the second, along with two bottlenose dolphins. By the time I was in the water with the MVA, the bottlenose were gone, but I did get some good recordings of the remaining spotteds!

Oh – and you caught those ID#97 references above, didn’t you? What a good DCP follower you are! That’s right, we recently added two new juveniles to our Bimini Atlantic spotted dolphin photo-ID catalog - #s 096 and 097! Welcome to club!

Until next time,
Kel

So, I had been wondering when we would get on the ocean after the outskirts of Hurricane Irene passed through. But, thankfully, Bimini Undersea got a trip together on Saturday! I very much enjoyed my time with the day’s passengers – and of course, the dolphins.

We departed feeling a bit uncertain about the weather. A few squalls had passed through earlier in the day and yesterday afternoon included a fierce thunderstorm. But, as far as we could tell the skies ahead were clear; and we were hoping they would stay that way!

Sure enough, they did and the dolphins came surfing by. At first, there were only two and we couldn’t keep them in view. We didn’t give up though and soon we five, six…nine dolphins! Although the underwater visibility was quite poor for Bimini, the dolphins came so close it did not matter. In the group we saw Cerra (#38, with her calf), Trudy (#57, likely with a calf too), Addie (#84) and un-named #43 and #93. I’m not sure what was going on between Trudy and Addie though – they were being quite feisty with each other!

Until next time,
Kel