Our next tagging expedition is a trip to the Yucatan Straits where we will be tagging dolphin and white marlin for a month. Don Hammond will be with us again as we attempt to tag 200 dolphin in order to better understand dolphin migration out of the Caribbean up through the Florida Straits to the Eastern Seaboard. No one has ever tagged dolphin this far South (and West).
We plan to leave May 22nd from North Palm Beach Marina and run first to Key West. We will sit there until we have good weather then do an overnight run to Isla Mujeres. Isla is 400 miles SW from Key West so we will leave late afternoon, run ful speed until dark. Then we slow down to 10 knots, turn on the infrared vision system and carefully run until morning. We should be at Isla Mujeres by mid-morning the following day.
We will be reporting the results of our tagging efforts daily along with pictures of other marine life in the area. This is a major feeding ground for whale sharks that feed in the upwelling zone beyond the Arrowsmith Bank. We have gotten reports of pods of 50+ whale sharks on the surface feeding. We will definitely put on our snorkle gear, grab our underwater cameras and jump in and document any encounter.
More later on preparing for a month at sea. Tag and release.
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