There can be lot of tourist boats after the dolphins as well. In any case, always prepare for a longer than planned stay with sandwiches and water. However, the boat goes out only in near perfect weather conditions, so on windy or rainy days the boat stays in, at least when the volunteers are present. If a dolphin is spotted, a sighting will be recorded no matter how many hours you already have spent on the sea. Note that these guys are not fooling around or spotting the dolphins only when it seems like fun for you and everyone. Ask the staff if you are working on yours, or if you are interested of a longer internship with them. Many scientific papers and thesis have been written based on this very data. This is very time demanding, since there can be hundreds of pictures from one sighting, and the dolphin identification is not a straightforward process but requires attention on the details of the scars, fin shape and behavior of the individual. Later the pictures are reviewed at the office and the staff is able to identify pretty much each dolphin that has been spotted, comparing the pictures to the catalog. Following trawler, but not feeding.Ĭonfirm the behavior from the staff members. Dolphins often feed behind fishing trawlers. S as for socializing (playing, jumping).DT as for dive traveling with a clear direction.D as for diving without a clear direction.If there are a lot of dolphins, a lot of smartphone screen pressing is to be done:) Also the dolphin behaviour is marked. The other volunteer using the app (no, not available from the appstore) is recording every blow as dolphins come up to the surface for air. You will have plenty of time to snap some great shots, don't worry.) (However it's better not to take your own camera for the first trips. This option is better if you want to take some pictures with your own camera, since it is not as time demanding as using the smartphone app.

The coordinates are checked from the GPS, saved into the tracker and also marked down to a sheet of paper with the indicators of dolphin behavior, sea state and the stage of the sighting. The waypoints are marked every five minutes when there is a dolphin sighting going on. If/When dolphin(s) are spotted, the sighting and the volunteer work begins. At this point volunteers only scan the horizon for a possible sighting. One is to keep track of the waypoints using a GPS tracker & sheet of paper and the other is to use a smartphone application and make a note every time a dolphin raises to the surface for air (or any other reason).įirst when the boat leaves, you are going for a search. Volunteers will have two tasks to fulfill. One of the staff members is taking care of the boat, while the other stands in the front and takes the pictures. In the boat there are two staff members and the volunteers. Photo identification is the main data collection method. These guys are really pros at finding the dolphins on the open sea, so you are definitely going to see your share. You will be working on data collection on dolphin behavior, feeding, numbers, etc mostly based on photo identification. All of the staff are not scientists, but the blue world center publishes actively in scientific journals. The center is not to move there for another two years or so.Īs a volunteer, you get to go on the boat quite a bit with the Blue World staff members. The new place is being built in the more populated, neighboring town Mali Losinj. The Blue World research center is - for now - located at Veli Losinj, a beautiful fishing village in Croatia. Of course it's not so much - or at all - about diving, but it offers other interesting insights. Getting to understand a bit about dolphins and dolphin research has been great. This year I wanted to do something a bit different from diving, something that would still include spending time at sea. Did I get every single keyword inserted into the title? Hope so.

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