Phadraig And The Tier Jinn Of Pelle
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The Cape Lookout Studies program is run by Naturalist Keith Rittmaster from the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort, NC. I met Keith through a mutual friend. Keith took us along for a boat ride out to the Cape Lookout field station, which turned out to be a provision stocking, semi-cleaning trip. On the ride out, I was introduced to the methodology of in-shore and ocean Dolphin research.
That first day, I think we spotted about three pods of the North Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, with five to ten individuals in each. The doplhins would swim next to the boat, as if we were all in a convoy. Every so often one would roll to their side with the eye staring straight at us. I was delighted. And hooked.
I had always thought that once you left the shore, there wasn't much life happening on the surface, just fish underneath. I was wrong. Birds were flying all around us. Fishing, soaring, floating. Dolphins playfully leaping out of the water as the mood struck. Schools of fish changed the color of the water. People were in their boats fishing.
On later trips, we observed humpbacked whales, basking sharks feeding on the surface, and sea turtles almost as large around as I am tall.
Keith leads a variety of tours and programs to the Cape. My favorite is the Dolphin Study Trip. I liked the photography weekend trip as well. In the spring of 2000, there is a planned one week photography trip about how to photograph nature.
If you want more information, the NC Maritime Museum does have a homepage. Or, email me at: [email protected], and I'll send addresses that I have.
Phadraig
That first day, I think we spotted about three pods of the North Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, with five to ten individuals in each. The doplhins would swim next to the boat, as if we were all in a convoy. Every so often one would roll to their side with the eye staring straight at us. I was delighted. And hooked.
I had always thought that once you left the shore, there wasn't much life happening on the surface, just fish underneath. I was wrong. Birds were flying all around us. Fishing, soaring, floating. Dolphins playfully leaping out of the water as the mood struck. Schools of fish changed the color of the water. People were in their boats fishing.
On later trips, we observed humpbacked whales, basking sharks feeding on the surface, and sea turtles almost as large around as I am tall.
Keith leads a variety of tours and programs to the Cape. My favorite is the Dolphin Study Trip. I liked the photography weekend trip as well. In the spring of 2000, there is a planned one week photography trip about how to photograph nature.
If you want more information, the NC Maritime Museum does have a homepage. Or, email me at: [email protected], and I'll send addresses that I have.
Phadraig
