Thanks to Joanie from Team 5 for sending in a blog entry!

We travel in from all walks of life, each of us toting our personal histories that, for many of us, do not relate directly to field biology. Then, within hours of arrival we are propelled into the great outdoors and viola...research with wild creatures of the earth. It is grand. This volunteer experience was extremely satisfying. Dr. Maldini and her research staff, Cyndi and Mark, were hands-on on a daily basis with the volunteer team, allowing each of us to peer into the methodology of collecting data in the field, involving us in every way. Many moments stand out in my mind over the 10-day expedition, all of which are archived to memory. Chasing coastal bottlenose dolphins in a boat in sea swells for the first time was fantastic. I am amazed that there are dolphins living so close to shore. With help from the experts, when one develops the eye to spot them, the dolphins are always there to see. They were so close to the boat at times that one of them came up for air while running the bow and blew water onto me and my camera. The dolphin's perpetual smile implied amusement in doing it. Also memorable was participating in the 24-hour sea otter observation. I signed up for the 1am-5am stint with Cyndi. Our task was to count sea otters at the slough near the jetties that pave the way to the bay. In the dark and every half hour we tallied otters 'hanging out' in their raft and recorded weather conditions. Watching the otters resting in the twilight with only the sounds of the night was wonderful. Their silhouettes floating in the water looked like mini gondolas. We saw five otters haul-out on shore over the course of the night as well. The ease in which sea otters move in the water is pure poetry in motion. It's astonishing how much they can eat, and must eat - high-speed shell crackers....then groom like felines. Thanks again to Dr. Maldini and her A-Team, and my fellow volunteers, for making this expedition a positive experience. It's a great project with good company in the environmental haven of Monterey Bay. EW expeditions are roads less traveled but tremendously rewarding.

Joanie, Team 5

We headed out at 6:45 am, just before the sun rose. The sky brightened as we drove the Beach Road to the launch area from our home at Pajaro Dunes. After cleaning the Nereis the night before, we trailored the boat to the launch ramp this morning. After connecting the GPS we headed out into the open water passing the sea otters who habituate the jetty waters. The day was promising and no doubt each of us wondered what adventures the day would bring. We turned north calling out each sighting of bottlenose dolphins: Nibble, Arc, Stump with her calf, Shine, Minerva, Jambi, Joker with her calf, Number 21, Excalibur and Chip were sighted....12 adults in all wiath 7-8 juveniles. The Nereis took us all the way north of Santa Cruz to Terrace Point. On the return trip we came across hundreds of jellyfish, stopping briefly to net one. In doing so we learned that they are deceptively heavy, perhaps 15-20 pounds, being 95% water. Jellyfish don't have brains but float at the discretion of the currents. It had been another good dolphin day.

Helen Betz

Our first day with the dolphins! WOW! We left our "new" home at 6:30 and were on the boat at 7am, just as the sun was emerging from behind the San Andreas hills. It was cold and breezy but we were all bundled up. After traveling north for a while we had a false alarm with a sighting of harbor porpoises. With lookouts posted on either side of the boat, a small group of dolphins were finally sighted. They were heading south, traveling symmetrically together. Sometimes it was difficult to follow them due to their varied times underwater. When we were finished photographing the group we headed further south. After searching for quite a while, we were thrilled to sight a group of 30-40 dolphins with approximately 10 calves. They were in various small groups and often swam right next to the boat. All their antics brought cheers of joy and laughter from all of us. When the boat sped up, a number of the dolphins (up to 4) swam under the bow of the boat. From this vantage point we could see their size and markings on their bodies. The young calves sometimes were very small (probably just a few months old) and others jumped right out of the water as they swam with their mothers. Others did a sort of flip when they surfaced to breathe. They were very interactive and appeared as joyful as we were!

Jane Morgan, Team 6

Today was our first day in the field, and after rising
at a very reasonable hour, we headed out. We cleaned
off the boat, jumped in, and the plan was to sail out
to the ocean to see what the conditions were like, and
if they were, we were planning on spending the day
with the dolphins. The water conditions here have been
quite unpredictable, and we want to make sure we get
enough time with the dolphins! The water conditions
were not that great, so we headed into Elkhorn Slough
to spend the day training on our observations with the
sea otters. We found a great spot, anchored, and began
training. We learned that otters have to eat 40% of
their body weight daily, so a lot fo their time is
spent foraging. We documented their foraging, and of
course, ooh'd and aah'd about how cute they are!
Daniella informed us that even though they were cute -
these little guys can be vicious in their mating
habits, which was quite shocking! Two of the
volunteers and I had been documenting one certain
otter for quite awhile, and we really got the hang of
it! It was a very cool day to learn, and Daniella,
Cyndi & Mark have been really patient with us. After
heading home, we warmed up with some tea, had some
dinner, did data entry & reviewed our day. It was a
great one!

Kendall Melton, Team 6