3rd Trip of 2016

Trip 3 (May 31st to June 6th) started our first CHAT trip of the season. The CHAT trips are in-house colleague trips where we focus on our underwater computer system.

Celeste mounting a GoPro to the top of the CHAT box housing

Onboard were Dr. Thad Starner, Celeste Mason, and Chad Ramsey from Georgia Institute of Technology. This year we were transitioning from an older computer hardware system to a newer, faster, and more powerful system. Also onboard was former Georgia tech student and now science teacher Alexis Crane from Beverly Hills, California. As an astronaut at sea, Alexis strives to bring her experience back to the classroom for future marine biologists. Also joining us is long-term member and CHAT supporter Suzanne Johnson. Also onboard was my research assistant Cassie Volker, who also just finished her master thesis this year. A natural with the video camera, Cassie diligently films video during the day and works through photo id at night.

Graduate Student, Cassie Volker, filming

We met up with our star dolphin players Palette, Tristan, and Brat and they were ready to go. After getting in the water with multiple toy exchanges our system was registering multiple mimics and exchanges. After 4 days of great encounters we were interrupted by Tropical Storm Colin, which worked its way from the Gulf of Mexico across the state of Florida, into the Atlantic. So we packed up and headed home, chased out by weather again…just part of field work.

Denise Herzing, Research Director