For Christmas, Brent's parents gave us tickets to ride on a dolphin cruise. It was a fun and an amazing adventure. The cruise that we went on was actually a research boat. They pay for their research by giving rides to the public. So we had a biologist on board to educate and inform us. We saw over 10 different dolphins. They identify them by their dorsal fin. Each dolphin has unique nicks and bumps. They have named each of them and track where they are and their behaviors. I think they said that they are currently tracking 80 dolphins. We saw some that were just hanging around the boat. The captain told us to sit down and he would show us something. He took off and the dolphins followed in the wake of the boat. They flipped and jumped. I think three dolphins followed us. He did that twice for us. It was fun.
Here is a mommy and her baby... waiting for their ride in the wake.
They had cute little books for the kids to fill out. They kept track of the dolphins and filled in other information. They each earned a badge when we were done. Here Ashleigh is working hard on her booklet.
Some cute kids on the boat. Ashleigh, Brent, Kara, Erin and Wesley are enjoying the dolphin tour.
The girls loved looking for dolphins.
The biologist took some pictures for us too. He had an amazing camera, and got some better shots than I did. We have many more pictures from this trip, but we will spare the blog of all of them. This is a skimmer. It flies along the water and scoops up fish. Its lower beak is longer than the top beak. Here he has a minnow in his beak.
A dolphin doing some flips in the wake of the boat.
For part of the trip we stopped at an island to collect shells. The island is only accessable by boat. This iguana was sunning himself on the banks of the island.
Some more dolphin play. I think this is the mom and baby. The babies stay with their moms for 2 to 3 years.
The biologist took our picture on the island. It was a great day.
We started the trip from Marco Island. It is about an hour South from our house. There were 12 people on our boat. I think that it could hold 30 people or so. The kids all loved this. They want to go again.
Here is a mommy and her baby... waiting for their ride in the wake.
They had cute little books for the kids to fill out. They kept track of the dolphins and filled in other information. They each earned a badge when we were done. Here Ashleigh is working hard on her booklet.
Some cute kids on the boat. Ashleigh, Brent, Kara, Erin and Wesley are enjoying the dolphin tour.
The girls loved looking for dolphins.
The biologist took some pictures for us too. He had an amazing camera, and got some better shots than I did. We have many more pictures from this trip, but we will spare the blog of all of them. This is a skimmer. It flies along the water and scoops up fish. Its lower beak is longer than the top beak. Here he has a minnow in his beak.
A dolphin doing some flips in the wake of the boat.
For part of the trip we stopped at an island to collect shells. The island is only accessable by boat. This iguana was sunning himself on the banks of the island. 
Some more dolphin play. I think this is the mom and baby. The babies stay with their moms for 2 to 3 years.
The biologist took our picture on the island. It was a great day. 
We started the trip from Marco Island. It is about an hour South from our house. There were 12 people on our boat. I think that it could hold 30 people or so. The kids all loved this. They want to go again.
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