August 13, 2010
Day 1: Playful Dolphins and Baby Fish
Here’s your expedition update for today, from senior campaigns communications manager, Dustin Cranor:
The Oceana Latitude is now anchored off the coast of Key West for the first leg of its two-month expedition.
On our long voyage from Fort Lauderdale, we spotted a lot of sargassum floating on the surface of the water. It’s sad to imagine that this floating seaweed is at risk in the Gulf of Mexico because it provides essential habitat for marine animals in the open ocean.
We also had our first interaction with something other than flying fish. As we made our way into shallow waters, dolphins begin surrounding the bow of the ship. They continued entertaining the crew by swimming and eating small fish around the boat for hours.
Oceana also took part in the first activity of the expedition, catching and examining small fish. After allowing the fish traps to soak in the water, Oceana marine scientist Margot Stiles quickly identified several small critters, including baby lobsters, shrimp, crabs and squid.
Here’s Margot:
Margot Stiles Describes Oceana’s First Activity on Gulf Expedition, Examining Baby Fish off Key West August 12, 2010 from Oceana on Vimeo.