The perfect gift for Christmas or Birthdays!
To make sure that our survey effort is evenly distributed throughout each transect grid we have created a series of randomly generated transect lines (or legs) within each grid. The ship follows the transect lines until we have a sighting, then we leave the line (if need be) to complete the encounter. At the end of the encounter we resume transit along the transect line until we have another sighting. The chart below shows our progress thus far. Each yellow line is a transect leg that we have run since we started on May 15th. We still have a few legs left to go (those in black off Grand Bahama)! Wish us luck!
Rough-toothed dolphin - note the long rostrum and white lips. Also, notice there is no crease between the melon (head) and the rostrum (as there is in bottlenose or spotted dolphins,
for example).
Atlantic Spotted dolphin - "What, no spots?" Spotted dolphins are actually born without spots, and accumulate them with age - the more spots, the older the animal. In this picture you can see a distinct colour pattern: dark gray on the dorsal surface fading to pale gray on the underside of the dolphin. When very active, this pale gray area may look pink - this is from blood circulating near the skin's surface (like a blush).
We anchored at Rocky Point that evening and went to the Sandy Point "Fish Fry" that night for a little taste of home. This weekend is The Bahamas' Labour Day holiday weekend, so there were alot of people out to celebrate.
