Wildlife/animals

Co-opted Super Hero

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged dolphin trainers / Dolphins / Dolphins Plus / swimming with dolphins / travel by

What does it take to make a superhero flight at parks like Dolphins Plus?  Two uber-educated dolphin specialists like Krista and Hunter–one to direct the dolphins, one to direct the “hero”.  I played the improbable, hero with marginal swimming and direction taking skills.  A photographer, and two exquisitely trained dolphins round out the team, though a group of enthusiastic spectators will add flare. The team makes the stunts look easy, but having played the hero, I marvel at the chemistry.  When I missed grabbing BB’s dorsal fin for a team pull, Isaac idled forward allowing me to catch BB and get situated before they punched it.  That coordination is child’s play for dolphins.  They regularly […]

Toothy Timberlands

 in Florida / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Florida / Patick O'Donnell / Rookery Bay / shark tagging / sharks / South Fort Myers High School / travel by

A young woman put her foot on the boat rail, bracing herself to haul in a two-foot lemon shark for tagging.  As Environmental Specialist Pat O’Donnell grabbed the shark, he did a double-take on her boot–Really, Timberlands?  The extra-take took no more than a quarter-instant, just enough for the shark to sink its teeth into the boot toe. Once that shark chomped, there was no shaking it off.  The lemon was there to stay.  Pat assessed the situation and asked his volunteer crew if anyone had a camera. After the photo-shoot, tagging, and data collection, he used a screwdriver to pry the shark off and let it swim away.  The imprint of the shark […]

Romancing the Condor

 in Peru / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged condors / Inca ceremony / Machu Picchu / Peru / Temple of the Condor / travel / vulture by

  At Machu Picchu’s Temple of the Condor, Incas placed their deceased leaders on a specially carved stone then attracted a condor to carry the leader’s spirit to the sky.  Nice imagery, I guess, but knowing that “condor” is another name for “vulture” takes a lot away.   Note to loved ones:  Please don’t invite a vulture to my funeral.

Patroling for Pals

 in Newfoundland / Wildlife/animals  tagged Newfoundland / road trip / states visited count / travel / travel dog by

Our Colorado to Newfoundland road trip chalked up more states for our 3 1/2 year-old lab than I had amassed at 40.  Raven now has BFFs–dog and human–in 13 states and 3 provinces.  She traded smooches with a biker babe in St. Andrews, comforted a man who’d spent the day searching for his wife’s purse in Acadia, and contaminated the hands of most of the diners and wait staff in a dockside café in Bar Harbor.  If only her leash were longer she’d be a serious contender for president.

Who Doesn’t Want to Hold a Shark?

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Florida / mosquitoes / Patrick O'Donnell / Rookery Bay / sharks / South Fort Myers High Scool / travel by

Photo provided by Patrick O’Donnell, Environmental Specialist in Fisheries The question came from Vanessa, a South Fort Myers High School girl who joined our Rookery Bay shark tagging trip with Pat O’Donnell.  Oddly enough, I seriously wanted to hold a shark.  Having read so much about them, I wanted to experience a living, gill-breathing, not too dangerous little shark in my hands for a heartbeat or two.  Sadly, all we met while fishing Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands were catfish, isopods, and several zillion mosquitoes.  Still, it was a thrilling experience, and I’m so glad that Pat is out there offering that opportunity to […]

Sharks as Science Bait

 in Florida / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged high school science / Neil Hammerschlag / sharks / Steven Allen / Steven Wilkie / travel / University of Miami by

On a mission to meet sharks, I worked with students and teachers from schools on both Florida coasts.  The two instructors had gone above and beyond in prepping their classes.   We met four of Steven Wilkie’s freshly polished shark experts on our visit to the Ten Thousand Islands estuary with Environmental Specialist Pat O’Donnell.  Wilkie, of South Fort Meyers High, gives up uncounted evenings and a good deal of sleep to expose many such tiny groups to real-world research. He and O’Donnell also took pains to individualize their onboard lecture for Yazmin, a wannabe accounting major, by emphasizing the importance of statistics and data software in research.  […]

Stardust Dance

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged bioluminescence / combjellies / estuaries / Florida / fluorescent algae / lagoons / Patrick O'Donnell / travel by

One of my Florida missions was to see the fluorescent algae that blooms on certain lagoons in June. Patrick O’Donnell, Environmental Specialist in Fisheries, showed me where to watch for the occasional greenish flashes from bioluminescent creatures that were disturbed by the passage of our boat. Comb jellies made saucer-sized flashes when bumped.  That was as good as it got that night because Steve and I had opted for May’s less sultry temps. When the fluorescent algae blooms, it leaves a shimmering wake behind the boat, or even a paddle stroke. Patrick once watched night rain transform a bay into a psychedelic dance floor, every drop bringing shine […]

How Fun is That?

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged dolphin communication / dolphin research / Dolphin Research Center / Dolphins / Florida / Grassy Key / travel by

A dolphin named Tanner whistled wheezy squeals as Emily Guarino, Administrative Director of Research, explained the research games we would ask him to play.  Maybe because the sound came from his blowhole instead of his mouth, I couldn’t be sure where it came from.  Emily said that the sound is associated with high levels of dopamine, meaning Tanner was indisputably HAPPY. He was excited to play research games with me. Imagine my dopamine level. Many thanks to the dedicated staff at Dolphin Research Center who engineered that joy-fest.

Sea Lion Love

 in Florida / Our Quest / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Dolphin Research Center / dolphinariums / Flipperphilles / Mary Stella / sea lions / travel by

Both of the dolphinariums I visited last week host a couple sea lions amid their extensive dolphin collections.  There’s obviously a far greater demand for dolphin time than sea lion.  I asked Mary Stella, Director of Media and Marketing at Florida’s Dolphin Research Center what it is about sea lions that makes them less appealing than dolphins. She called that “an invalid question.”  Sea lions, she assured me, are charming and so smart that DRC’s Kilo responds to over 150 different requests from his handlers.  The only explanation Mary could offer for the disparity in popularity is that no sea lion rock star like Flipper has come forward to inspire mass adoration. I hope you won’t judge me when I admit that […]

Legacy Longhorns

 in Snowbirding / Texas / Wildlife/animals  tagged cattle drive / Fort Worth Texas / longhorns / stockyards / travel by

Fort Worth’s stockyards as tourist attraction?  It didn’t sound like a bucket-list item, but we needed a road trip stopover, so we gave it a try.  The historic tour set in turn-of-the-century brick cattle pens, turned out to be a real find.  The prime rib and smoked catfish were also exceptional. The cattle drive wasn’t so much — for good reason.  Pushing a rambunctious herd of longhorns past a lineup of small children would be insanity.  Still a half-dozen deadheaded longhorns escorted by shushing cowhands makes for a laughably lackluster spectacle. Indeed, the saddled photo-op steer on a street corner put […]