Dolphins (or else) in the wild - tips

[mevelandry]

My daughter is a huge dolphin fan....she has written book reports on dolphins almost every research project she's had since kindergarten!! We took her on a dolphin cruise from Myrtle Beach last summer and we were able to see them swimming and jumping in the ocean from the boat, it was a great experience! I came clean with her that there were dolphin swim excursions on the cruise we will be going on, but when I showed her the excursion to the baths and how it seemed more natural and beautiful than the dolphins swim, she agreed even without me pushing too hard about their captivity. I'm intrigued by this post to find ways to see wildlife in their natural habitat on our trip! It is my first time on a cruise.

Not dolphins at all but if she's into whales too, I recommend taking whale watch cruises. I've done one in Boston. We saw about 20 of them. Hands down one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.

I hope you'll get to spot dolphins on your cruise. I was told that when you do bottom boat cruises, the chances of spotting dolphins are very strong. I've never tried it but maybe someday.

 

[mevelandry]

We were in room 2070 on the Wonder and it was the PERFECT spot on the ship for the wake-break. One evening as we were getting ready for dinner, we caught up? to a pod of dolphins. There were hundreds of them and they were jumping right outside of our window. We could see their eyes and mouths opening and closing. They were that close. Needless to say, we ended up missing dinner that night and just stood at the window in awe for 2 hours.

I would probably see none of it because I would be crying like a baby. (I love wildlife too much. I get emotional.)

 

[Capt_BJ]

That place does look great! Right on the water?

 

[redsonja76]

At Serenity Bay, I am on the beach, and DW is on a raft about 20 yards out. I start walking out to take her picture and all the little fish around me scatter. I start looking around and see a 2-3 foot Black Tip shark cruising through the water. Picture did not come out due to angle of sun and reflection off the water. My DW is splashing the water with her hands to move the raft, so I tell her to stop because I see a shark. So what does DW do, she jumps off the raft and makes a bigger splash. The shark turns towards her. I have to run and get between her and the shark.
.

What you're referring to is a NOPEfish.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Nurse shark on excursion from Castaway Cay

Stingray in St. Thomas

Sea turtle in St. Thomas

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Dolphins as we were leaving Port Canaveral

 

[mevelandry]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! P.s.: What kind of camera do you use?

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! P.s.: What kind of camera do you use?

Nikon Cool Pix AW100 for the underwater shots

The picture of the dolphins was taken with my Canon Rebel

 

[mevelandry]

Just coming back from a 3 nights Bahamas cruise on the Disney Wonder.

Once again we have seen dolphins near the beach of Port Canaveral. A few minutes later we have spotted a sea turtle. Unfortunately, it went by so fast that I did not have the time to take pictures.

But the best time was at Serenity Bay. We saw a stingray again. We encountered a school of fishes (thousands of little white fishes) and thought that something was probably hunting then. Then, we have seen three barracudas hunting them and about 10... I don't know what they were but they were about 12 inches each and kinda dark.

My father in law said he heard prople scream "shark" while we were going on a bike ride.

Also, we saw a starfish.

I have taken many pictures and also used my waterproof camera under water (when I receive the pictures, if some of them are good I'll try to post it here).

 

[mevelandry]

Sorry, I totally forgot to come back to post my pictures...

Please find the pictures of all the creatures we encountered at Serenity Bay in shallow water in April...

Here is the gigantic school of fish (taken from outside of the water)...

Here's the Stingray...


Not sure what those fishes are but they were about 10-12 inches long...


School of fish from underwater...

A small starfish...


One of the three barracudas hunting (or fishing? LOL)...

 

[cmph]

A small starfish...
View attachment 244571

Love that starfish photo the most!

 

[mevelandry]

Love that starfish photo the most!

It's really pretty. I had never seen one with two colors before.

 

[mevelandry]

I decide to resuscitate that thread to add a few tips and spots for people who like wildlife.

I have discovered snorkeling as I went to Royal Palms in Grand Cayman last fall. The water was so clear, it was amazing. And there was a lot of fishes around. (I saw a "Dory").

Another amazing place I've done snorkeling this year is in Chankanaab (Cozumel, Mexico)... I couldn't believe it. All you had to do is go down the stairs. We didn't have to go further than a meter into the water to see tons of fishes and other creatures. I swam with a baby barracuda as well!

While they are not "wildlife" per say, I was amazed by the number of roosters and chicken (with babies) walking in the middle of Key West who were just there, crossing the street everywhere. I was not expecting that and tought it was very charming! (And so were all the polydactyl cats around Ernest Hemingway's house!)


Blue fish in Chankanaab (Cozumel, Mexico)


Rooster in Key West

 

[woody64]

We saw a large pod of orcas right as we were getting ready for dinner on our last night last August as we were headed back to Vancouver. I isolated these two.

 

[imbelle]

Don't want to start an ethics debate but you might consider checking out UNEXSO in Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. The do dolphin encounters but they take the dolphins out to the open ocean on a daily basis so the dolphins are the ones who decide whether or not they want to come back "home". At least that's the way it was run when I had a relative working there about 15 years ago.

 

[quickcat]

We have seen dolphins leaving Port Canaveral as well! Not very often but when we do, it is always so neat- Definitely a highlight of our cruise!

 

[mevelandry]

Don't want to start an ethics debate but you might consider checking out UNEXSO in Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island. The do dolphin encounters but they take the dolphins out to the open ocean on a daily basis so the dolphins are the ones who decide whether or not they want to come back "home". At least that's the way it was run when I had a relative working there about 15 years ago.

I don't know. When I google UNEXSO in Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island , I see dolphins "perform"...

 

[mevelandry]

We saw a large pod of orcas right as we were getting ready for dinner on our last night last August as we were headed back to Vancouver. I isolated these two.

This is amazing.

 

[FSU Girl]

We saw a large pod of orcas right as we were getting ready for dinner on our last night last August as we were headed back to Vancouver. I isolated these two.

Wow that's so beautiful! You must have a great camera. I saw a humpback whale once and my picture came out like a blurry speck in the ocean LOL.

 

[mevelandry]

Wow that's so beautiful! You must have a great camera. I saw a humpback whale once and my picture came out like a blurry speck in the ocean LOL.

He's a tip: If you can take a clear video of the animal on your phone, you can screenshot as you watch the videos. I obtained great images doing that.