Team 2:

While staying busy in the field, we've found that our time with Team 2 flew by with barely a chance to stop and update our blog. Dolphin id's continued until a few days before the team left, when intense fog and a 9-10 ft swell kept us off the water. With the help of the volunteers, all the photos have been rated and matching is underway. And we have exciting news to report! Mark just matched the 50th individual dolphin for the season!! Also, we're seeing some dolphins that haven't been seen since the mid-90's. Now that a lot of the dolphins have been matched, Daniela is beginning to outline the social organization of the dolphins, identifying mothers and male buddies. As some of these social ties are extremely tight and important aspects of a dolphin's life, we expect to see many of the same dolphins together throughout the season. The otter project has been focusing on the focal follows to identify dive times, prey selection and size and success rates. Steph is beginning to analyze this data, the result of which will be her senior thesis. (Look for her preliminary findings throughout the season)

On the last day of Team 2's time with us, we woke up to a third day of intense fog and heavy swell. Frustrated by the weather we decided to explore the coast and we all took off for Big Sur. We spent the day hiking through Pfeiffer State Park, learning about the Coastal Redwoods. After spending a few hours among these century-old trees we returned to the coast and winded our way along the coastal road, back to Carmel. The team gathered at Carmel for well-earned dinner and took in the sunset while we watched surfers enjoy the large surf that we had avoided earlier today. Exhausted from the day's adventure, we returned home and everyone prepared to depart the next morning.