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Since 2001, DCP has been studying a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) in the waters around Bimini, a small Bahamian island along the Great Bahama Bank. Each field season has been extremely successful and, as we continue to collaborate with Bill & Nowdla Keefe's Wild Dolphin Adventures and Bimini Adventures, we now have over 90 individual dolphins in our Photo-ID catalog. In 2006, we also began systematic documentation of the common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the area. That fledging Photo-ID catalog as 38 individuals and we look forward to adding more!
The purpose of DCP’s research here is to analyze the group dynamics of dolphins found on the Great Bahama Bank, north of Bimini. Identification of individual dolphins and examination of their association patterns provides details and insight into their social structure and behavior. We will continue to examine if any of the identified dolphins match those individuals observed farther north, along the White Sand Ridge. To read more background information, click here .
The 2011 Bimini field season is once again being conducted by DCP Research Associate Kelly Sweeting . This will be Kel's ninth summer season in Bimini, and she continues to be there year-round, in hopes of collecting more non-summer data. As always, we are extremely excited about this year’s research. We look forward to the students who will join us and all of the dolphin swim guests we'll meet along the way.
Kel will be keeping folks around the world up to date on the research by posting regular field reports. Click on a posting below to see what we (and the dolphins) have been up to! Click on the links below for information on how you can support DCP's Bimini research program:
Become a Member | Adopt a Dolphin | Purchase merchandise featuring a Bimini dolphin | Donate |  Subscribe to the field reports using RSS
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Written by Kelly Melillo Sweeting
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Friday, 30 December 2011 00:09 |
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This week I had the pleasure of joining Bimini Undersea staff aboard the newly rebuilt, ‘Adventurer.’ Adventurer is a fantastic, workhorse of a boat who has served Bimini Undersea well over the years. This year meant a complete overhaul of the ol’ girl and she looks and rides fantastically! Although we did not see any dolphins on last Saturday’s trip, we did have the pleasure of observing two groups of bottlenose dolphin on Thursday. I looked over the photos quickly and it seems the two groups were in fact different and, drum roll please….that tiny calf we saw did still have fetal folds! The little youngster hung close by mom’s side, but did entertain us all with its half-leaping antics! The second group was a bit more spread out than the first and included this active dolphin, leaping on its way somewhere.
A big thanks to all of Bimini Undersea’s guests – today and all year long. We wish you all a very happy 2012. And remember – you still have time to make an end-of-year, tax-deductible donation to DCP. Click here to donate today!
Until next year (unless another trip pops up in the next two days, of course),
Kel |
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Written by Kelly Melillo Sweeting
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Tuesday, 11 October 2011 22:25 |
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 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 |
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