JoJo, Whizzer and Jay Wish You All a Very Happy Thanksgiving

https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146962120/2b6b8e40fc
https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146967251/3463011b79 

JoJo and Zyzz

Hi All,

The other day when we were out, we saw a boat with the pod of dolphins. That was the day I got the great footage of the whole family. The boat that was with them belongs to a family that owns a house along the marina where we keep Spy Hop. They were trying to swim with the dolphins but not getting very close. They had their dog Zyzz in the water and got some footage of JoJo swimming with him!
I offered to take Mark one of the sons and owner of Zyzz out on Spy Hop. I was hoping to get more footage of Zyzz and JoJo from in the water.
We went out yesterday but didn't find the dolphins. There was a huge and nasty front coming our way. We saw a black bank of clouds descending on us and beat hasty retreat to the marina. We arrived moments before the heavens opened. The ocean turned into a churning mess as it continued to pour all day and all night! I hope you enjoy their video of Zyzz and JoJo. BTW Zyzz is a long backed spaniel with a great personality. He was quivering with excitement the whole boat ride! I have promised both Mark and Zyzz that we will try again until we have a good JoJo swim.https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146898294/b6981cc243 the first try didn't load correctly so this should work!

French Cay

Hi All,
We get to the dock early, not wanting to miss a minute of this gorgeous day. As we are leaving Leeward, I see a dark shape coming under the boat. It is a big Eagle Ray. The water is so clear I can see the pretty pattern covering his body that helps distinguish him form a Southern Ray. On the other side of the boat I see two more smaller Eagle Rays that are flanking our boat. The sun is sparkling on the water, making it look like little stars dancing on the water. We travel up and down Grace Bay but don't see any dorsals. I decide it would be a perfect day to go to French Cay. We turn back through Leeward and head out across the Southside. French Cay is a very small island that is a bird sanctuary. To get there one must cross the South Bank which has very shallow water in most parts. It takes about an hour going full tilt boogie. Once you are totally out of sight of land you start to see a little shape forming on the horizon which is French Cay. The snorkeling is crystal clear around the island. If you travel past the island you leave the shallow bank and are quickly in vey deep water. I am hoping to see some cetaceans in the deep water, but we don't. We decide to travel another hour heading west which takes us to another nice place to snorkel outside of West Caicos.
It is now time to head back. John starts back, once again full tilt boogie as I keep looking for dorsals. I'm feeling lucky I've spent so much time with JoJo and his pod seeing there doesn't seem to be many dolphins around. John slows down abruptly. He has spotted a dorsal. I get in hoping to get interaction. The dolphin comes right up to take a look. You will see in the video that not only does he come up to look at me but, he does some very vigorous crater fishing!https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146750993/6573abf994

Whizzer comes to Visit me

Hi All
What a great way to start the day! Whizzer and his mom were out in front of Ocean Club bright and early this am. Whizzer was happy to have a friend while his mom was off fishing.
 https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146509164/269960c5d7 


JoJo came by later but didn't seem interested in catching up to Whizzer and his Mom (or aunt). Shortly there after the weather got grey and nasty and we headed home.

JoJo Calf sits Whizzer

Hi All,

The day kept getting better! Both females went off to fish. They left JoJo in charge of calf sitting. https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146481384/4f33dc1ba7

Whizzer and Pod

Hi All,
We had such a great dolphin day I barely know where to start! I think I'll cut to the chase and tell you about swimming with the pod.  https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146457792/fabef562f7
The video opens up with JoJo because he helps make all of this happen. You will see two dolphins swimming close the one closest is Bo she has a perfect fluke. The dolphin beside her is Raggedy Ann who has a ragged left side of her fluke. Whizzer is flying around going in-between all of us me included! JoJo as always takes a position slightly farther back. His rostrum is white on the end. Whizzer makes a lot of contact with Bo (nuzzles). I only wish he would suckle with RA or Bo so I could be SURE who is the Mom.  Whizzer seemed to get more rambunctious as we went. Apparently  he jumped clear over me! I'm hoping a boat near by got footage. You will notice toward the end of the video he comes right at me and BONK we collided head on! He went back to the others for a short time then came right back neither of us were any the worse for wear. At the very end as the others move off and I'm getting left behind JoJo comes by. JoJo likes me to be with the others and he likes to be behind me.  Making me part of the pod until I can't keep up.

JoJo's Mouth Must feel Better

Hi All,
Although JoJo is still opening his mouth more than usual, I'm quite sure he feels pretty good.
Our fabulous dolphin day started with JoJo swimming right toward our boat as we were approaching Ocean Club. He knows we are back in town and ready to take him wherever he wants! When he hears our boat motor, he comes swimming.
The first mission after flipping over, swimming under our boat and getting in the wake, was to go up to Parrot Cay. I got a good opportunity to check out his mouth and behavior when we stopped our progress along Parrot Cay because it got so shallow. https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146163115/db804bb206
You will see he still he has his mouth open but there is no agitated behavior.
JoJo came back to the boat and was agreeable to our turning around and heading back past Pine Cay toward Grace Bay. He stayed with us until we were approaching Smith's Reef where he peeled off. This is where we found RA, Bo and Whizzer a few days ago. Pretty soon John spotted more dorsals and I got in. There I found JoJo following a substantial nurse shark!!! This is activity I've seen many times before. Dolphins like to harass nurse sharks. JoJo did not elect to goose the shark (sort of glad about that) but he did "get in his face" or butt in this case.
)https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146160565/d8e5d4219f 

While JoJo and I were tailing the nurse shark, the others had moved off.  We found them and the fun began. Apparently RA is comfortable with JoJo and me baby sitting. The two ladies went off leaving Whizzer with us. After JoJo knew Whizzer and I were having fun, he too left. He was never far away because when my scooter ran out of charge, I used a friend's scooter which is very different from mine. JoJo instantly appeared. He looked it over, decided it was ok and left again.
In the rather long video of Whizzer (sorry cutting Whizzer is hard!), you will see a ray on the ocean floor. Notice Whizzer has slightly yellow lips like Lemon Lips had! Whenever you see bubbles coming out his blow hole he is whistling. You can hear it even with the music.
We stayed with the dolphins for over six fabulous hours. My scooter was out of charge; the camera was making all sorts of warning noises telling me either I flooded it or the battery was dead and John was fried to a crisp! Time to head in.https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146227632/c7140b23ee 

A Quick Hello

Hi All,
JoJo caught a ride from us from Leeward into Crystal Bay. When  he branched off, I got a moment to swim with him. His mouth was only slightly open and the remora was still catching a ride! I don't think I was with him enough to determine that his mouth is better but at least for that moment he wasn't opening it like he did before. I wasn't able to get in with him again because we got caught in a torrential downpour and headed for home. I hope to find him today and check out his progress.https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/146095203/98e83b951d 

Whizzer

Hi All,
I don't have much to report on JoJo except he followed our boat yesterday from Leeward to Parrot Cay and back along Pine Cay where he branched off. It was very rough and deep where he left our boat. I didn't think I could see him so I didn't get in. He however  still had his mouth open when he swam near the boat before disappearing into the waves.

I wanted to share some footage, my friend David Stone took from our boat. We were following Whizzer and Bo, when Whizzer spy hopped way out of the water. He wanted to see who was in the boat! I think he wanted to know if I was there! David caught him whizzing over to the boat and going under it while I was trying to get my flippers on to join him. When you see me spinning around it is because Whizzer is circling under me like  whirling dervish. https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/145914431/b65f3acc62

JoJo has Sustained an Injury in his Mouth

Hi All,
Yesterday, I noticed JoJo kept opening his mouth which is not his normal behavior. Today, he seemed much more agitated and opened his mouth way more. At one point, he came up to me clicking loudly, opened his mouth and kept it open for me to inspect. Honestly, not being a vet, all I could see was a lot of perfectly spaced teeth! The best I could do was to send pictures of JoJo's mouth to the vet on the island. He has insured me that things didn't look bad and told me to keep monitoring it. Here is a video of JoJo showing me his sore mouth https://vimeo.com/145750862

On a lighter note, JoJo is once again helping with calf sitting duties. This is not normal male dolphin behavior but JoJo is no normal dolphin! Enjoy this video of JoJo and Whizzer.

https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/145748145/59244e3916

JoJo leads Me To Ocean Treasure

Hi All,
It's 12:30 and we are still looking for dorsals with no success. We see a tour group right outside of Leeward where JoJo, Raggedy Ann and Whizzer were yesterday. We head over and find JoJo! He is alone today. He clearly wants a ride and gets right behind our boat. We head all the way to the opposite end of the island where we can see the Northwest Point Resort. At that point, we stop because there are some treacherous reef heads that John didn't think we should negotiate. As soon as we stop, JoJo heads over to the reef to scratch in the finger coral. I slip in and watch. He has the same little skinny fish swimming along his back as yesterday. I believe it's a remora but he isn't attached  at the moment the way remora's cling to their host. I'm not sure how he stayed with JoJo who was in the wake all the way here but, he did! JoJo then heads back, passes under Spy Hop (our boat) and starts scratching up and down the anchor line. On his trip down he notices a bungie cord. He points this out to me, as if to say, I believe this is from your world and doesn't belong here! I dive down and pick it up while he clicks at it. Once that mission is accomplished he heads over to the back of the boat and points at the motor HINT HINT. I get in and we take him all the way back to the very end of Pine Cay. It's now late and we head home.
If you watch the video you will see JoJo is opening his mouth. He regurgitated several times not to worry! I've seen this many times before!Other people may view this video via the Video Review Page: https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/145714573/eeb827a7cf

Who is Whizzer's Mom??

Hi All,
I know you all are waiting to hear about JoJo. We found him with the help of Rock who is Captain of Sail Provo's big sailing catamaran. At the time, we had heard rumor of a pod outside the reef. When Rock came over the radio with a sighting of three dolphins we flew back inside the reef to find them. I was sure it would be JoJo, Raggedy Ann and her calf. Raggedy Ann is JoJo's favorite female dolphin. When we get there, they are traveling fast. The calf is rocketing around making various acrobat leaps out of the water. I get in and see  Raggedy Ann (RA). The calf not only looked like Whizzer but came back to circle me like Whizzer. I make a mental note. I won't know for sure until I see both females and their calves together, if this calf is one and the same.
JoJo comes over to our boat "Spy Hop" and positions himself right at the back where I get in the water. I think he's waiting for me. I get in and he does a brief hello then swims off slowly so I can keep up. He does a little crator fishing then is off to find RA and her calf. I get back on board and they have vanished as only dolphins can do!https://vimeo.com/145576584 This video is of JoJo coming to say hi.

We decide to travel in the direction they are going and where we saw Bo and Whizzer yesterday. After  searching around for quite sometime, I see a dorsal. We are now at the other end of Grace Bay past Beaches where the water is really clear. This makes it good for filming. I slip in and find RA with Whizzer right below her. That is where calves stay when they are swimming with their moms. There is another dolphin who I think is Bo, the dolphin Whizzer was with yesterday. YES this is confusing! Perhaps Bo is the aunt and was taking Whizzer for the afternoon so RA could do some fishing. This is typical behavior for dolphins. Now I'm wondering if something happened to Bo's calf because she was pregnant when I left in June. Maybe the other dolphin isn't Bo and she's with her calf somewhere else. Welcome to the confusing world of dolphins! RA is always easy to tell because of her distinctive fluke. It is ragged on the left side.

The video thanks to the clear water came out great I hope you like it!

Other people may view this video via the Video Review Page: https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/145698700/17dcd33542

Introducing Whizzer

Hi All,
The day has finally come. My husband, John and I  sort through the usual Caribbean hassles (missing car, key not with boat). It all fades away as we head out of Leeward with the sun sparking on the amazing turquoise water. There is a splash as a turtle pops his head up stares at us and quickly submerges into safety. A Needle fish stands vertically in the water and shoots off for a good 50 feet looking like he's riding a Segway at sped across the water.
I have heard from various people that JoJo has been spotted both from boats and from our resort. No one could tell me if either of the ladies have had their calves. We travel around Grace Bay twice then up to Pine Cay but no dorsals. I heard JoJo came by Ocean Club in the afternoon so we head back and travel out in front of all the resorts along Grace Bay. We are about to reach Grace Point when I see a dorsal and a little dorsal!! The calf is cavorting around leaping, spy hopping, splashing about the cutest thing you've ever seen! I can't tell who the mom is until I get in. After a few tries aborted by tour boats and hobby cats, I have success. They come right by and I see it's not Raggedy Ann and am pretty sure it's Bo. She doesn't have a mark which makes it hard to tell. I figure it must be her from her behavior. She's content to have her very young energetic calf come circle me then jet back to her. JoJo is no where to be seen to help with the introductions. This calf has slightly yellow lips and behaves just like Lemon Lips did. I got some video which shows Whizzer as I've named him (or her) darting back to me, circling then whizzing off. https://vimeo.com/user38911674/review/145469618/577de69657