JoJo visits Scooter and Bo

Hi All, I'm not really sure how long JoJo was visiting Bo and Scooter. When we saw first saw them he was there. When I got in he was with swimming right with them for a short time. I would have gotten this on camera but I had two cameras refuse to work yesterday! The good news is that we david our new camera man out on the boat and he got footage of Scooter and me. Scooter put on a great show for him as you will see:)

awkward! dolphin human collision!

Scooter the cutest calf!

what fun!

off we go

David's great video of scooter and me swimming all around!

Dolphins Give me a Xmas Present

Hi All, I have been wondering and hoping that my friend Lemon Lips, who is a male calf born to Bo in 2012 would show up to meet his sister Scooter. Yesterday we were looking around past Pine Cay and along came three dorsals through the murky water. I excitedly climbed into my wetsuit and slipped in. My #@&*camera refused to turn on, not that you could have seen a darn thing at that point! I could barely figure out where they were much less who they were unless I looked above the water for dorsals. As soon as I found them, I saw Lemon Lips's fluke and knew it was him! He was darting all over with Scooter! They were having such fun! There were a few exciting moments when I couldnt see them until they nearly ran into me! Lemon Lips is HUGE, strong and handsome! I also noticed that Bo actually has a long gash under her chin. I would say fairly deep and about three inches long. I hope it isnt making it really uncomfortable to crater fish. After playing around in the deep murky water all three of the dolphins and I moved over to a sand bar where the water is only about two feet deep, perhaps less. Lemon Lips starts racing around like a mad man! All I could see were dorsals going everywhere so fast occasionally coming REALLY close - whoosh. I didn't really think they would want to swim in such shallow water unless fishing but there weren't any fish that I could see. Lemon Lips now and again would come by and look at me close up. My heart was pounding with glee! He and I started to swim in very tight circles in the shallow water around and around we went! I was trying not to get my scooter stuck in the sand it was that shallow! Now usually, he swims in circles under me but with it so shallow we were flying around this tight circle on the surface. It did occur to me as we whirled around that he was really big really strong and thankfully really friendly!!! Now I have had some amazing swims with dolphins but this was my all time favorite encounter!

These are all pics of Lemon Lips the fluke shows his distinguishing slit

Please stay in Longer!

Hi All, First, to catch up on JoJo. He's been taking rides for short distances between the cuts in the reef. He is very distraught with the remora. He tail slaps and does cork screw leaps out of the wake. Mark, the island vet, says the remora isn't doing any harm to JoJo it's just a nuisance. This morning we aren't finding JoJo so we go up to Pine Cay with hopes of finding Bo and Scooter. It's blowing pretty hard today making the water really murky. I admit to sleeping most of the trip due to a bit of partying the night before! I am wide awake however as we get to Pine Cay and think I see a dorsal in the distance. I see not one but two! As always, they are happy to have me swim with them even though I can't see a darn thing! I do notice when swimming right beside Bo that she has two lumps with jagged edges under her rostrum. I'm wondering if someone bit her? Maybe she got cut while crater fishing? I'm hoping the salt water will help repair them. The wind is really howling making for wavy water, murky but, worse for me IT'S COLD when I get out! Scooter and Bo stay with our boat for over four hours. I did a short video of them trying to entice me back in the water:)

Please come back in from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Huge Pod of Spotted Dolphins

Hi All, We invited David to come along with us. He hasn't seen Scooter yet and I'm hoping today will be the day. The water today is flat and smooth even past the reef. We see JoJo briefly but decide today is a great day to go to North West Point which is a long way and only doable if the water is flat. We see absolutely nothing on the way there. We see one turtle as we head back with the plan of going to the cut by Pine Cay. We are all straining to see anything even a bait ball or a flying fish. And then - dorsals are heading our way!!!! Spotted Dolphins and not just a few but a lot. They were hard to count and were every where we looked. We estimated 75 - 100! They stayed with us for hours. We swam with them, John spun the boat in circles creating waves which they surfed and then we swam again. They sort of ambled off slowly as if to say if you guys want to play more we are up for it but they pooped us out! Once we got inside the reef we saw JoJo, who wanted a ride. We took him where he wanted and then we headed home!

Huge Pod of Spotted Dolphins from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Scooter is Working on new skills

Hi All, I'm sitting on my porch where I have my desk away from home. I hear a tap tap tapping on the palm tree right in front of me. I see a woodpecker working his way down the tree tapping away. I haven't seen a woodpecker in the Caribbean before but apparently they are here too. I take this to be an excellent sign that we will have a good day! We find JoJo just leaving the "Big Blue" catamaran, White Sands. We motor past JoJo and he gets in behind our boat. We take him to Leeward where he branches off going toward the reef. I slip in and see the remora is still fastened to his peduncle. There are numerous marks where the little rascal has unhitched and hitched. As he crosses over the reef and into the deep blue, we lose sight of JoJo. We decide to continue North up the coast outside the reef. I'm searching the calm, dark blue water for dorsals. None to be found. Once we get to Pine Cay, we turn in through the cut in the reef. Almost immediately, I see two dorsals. They have heard our boat and are speeding our way! How cool is that to see your dolphin friends hurrying over to greet you! I get in and Scooter swims all around me in circles clearly happy to see me! She takes minute to nurse from her ever so patient Mom ,Bo.

Scooter Nurses from her patient Mom BO from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Scooter then starts working on her spy hopping skills as she pokes her head out of the water then falls over backward. Just like her brother Whizzer, she's so playful. If I lag behind she comes back to circle me. During this play time, one of the "Wake-to-Wake" boats joins us. They launch their drone and video the action from above. Hopefully, I'll get to see their aerial video. We come upon a barracuda, perhaps the same one I saw the other day right here. Bo watches intently as Scooter goes to investigate. It's so interesting watching how Bo teaches her calf about the other creatures in the ocean. I got footage of the barracuda but ran out of time to publish! I was in with the dolphins for many hours and the sun was setting. Time to go home and hope my camera worked! John spent many hours working on it because the whole thing froze up!

Scooter working on Spy Hop skills from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

This is cool as always JoJo is the star!

Hi All, I'm sitting at OC trying to get my cameras to work! I dont use a go Pro I tried but they didnt work for me! However mark from Wake to Wake does! He and JoJo are famous! Look at this! JoJo maybe getting older but he still loves to play! https://lovinturksandcaicos.com/news/turks-and-caicos/the-tcis-very-own-wake-2-wake-have-been-featured-in-the-gopro-million-dollar-challenge?fbclid=IwAR0WdjBs3U7ftnLPbCiHcYMKM5gWX-aEthq--bB813-3xVQpUKbfiN2Jbi8 Hope he wins the challenge! Good Luck Mark!

Welcome Home

Hi All, I went for a short trip to visit my daughter in Arizona. We are now coming out of Leeward on the search. Is that a dolphin I see coming straight for our boat? JoJo is coming right up. He must have missed his Uber rides for the past few days!! We start his itinerary of traveling up and down the coast. He branches off at the cuts through the reef, I presume looking for friends. I'm hoping he'll take us to Pine Cay where we seem to meet up with other dolphins the most. On our second pass by Leeward he keeps going to Pine Cay. The water is quite choppy with strong winds out of the Southeast. He branches off as we get opposite the Meridian Club. We wait watching diligently to see if there are any other dorsals. Three head toward us through the waves. One is small. Yay Scooter, Bo and JoJo are all coming right to the boat! I'm scrambling to get on my flippers and mask with camera. As I sink into the murky water, John drops the water scooter in beside me. Scooter and Bo are happy to see me. I am having a hard time with murky water figuring out where they are. I can hear lots of whistling as they circle around me. John said he could see me following Scooter and Bo following me. Every now and again, I could see JoJo come by. They travel out toward the reef where the water is much clearer. Now, I can see them clearly. Scooter in usual calf manner, is darting all over. Bo leaves for a while and Scooter and I are left to play. I twirl around in circles as she zooms around me. Scooter now seems to like traveling right beside me at times. Bo returns and JoJo comes by. I can now see his persistent remora is still clinging to his peduncle. As soon as JoJo comes by me, Bo takes off in the opposite direction. Scooter swims with JoJo. Soon JoJo leaves again and Bo returns. JoJo has gone off to entertain a catamaran sail boat. Bo and Scooter head over to check it out. I notice the people in the boat are all putting on gear to get in the water. Bo and Scooter are looking intently toward the boat. I'm wondering if I'm going to lose them if the swimmers get in. No problem, the dolphins just swim far enough away so they aren't quite with them. John goes over and picks up a father and daughter. They desperately want to see the dolphins. He puts them in right near us and they get a few minutes to see Scooter and Bo who a very quick drive-by. Scooter is whistling and looking at them! We move off. They are overjoyed at the chance to see a calf and mom in the wild. I'm seriously cold and pooped as I wear out my second water scooter. They are moving off. Time to head home.