Thursday, July 24, 2014

Research Field Notes: No. 8



5/22/2014. Dolphin Boat Survey

Today’s survey extended from the Jupiter Inlet (N 260 56.624' W 800 03.805') down to the Lake Worth Inlet [aka the Palm Beach Inlet] (N 260 46.300' W 800 03.500').

Research Organization: Taras Oceanographic Foundation

Wind/Water conditions: S,SE 0-10. Seas 0-2’

Duration: 8am-12:30pm

Dolphin encounters: Today we had two encounters. During the first survey we had a very nice encounter with 5-6 individuals that were very active. They were displaying several behaviors such as chuffing, rolling, tail slaps, upside down tail slaps, jumps, lunge fishing and travel. The encounter lasted approximately 40 minutes.

During Survey two, we encountered 2-3 tursiops. There was a big thunderstorm chasing us, so it prevented us from observing these animals for very long. What we did observe were long dives with short surface behaviors. It may have been weather related or fishing activity. This encounter lasted 10 minutes.
OTHER: Turtle counts: 9   Trash count: 8

Here is a short video of the chuffing behavior. (Please note all images and video are property of Taras under the authority NMFS (GA LOC) No.13386).

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