Cedar Key: Bring your Mum

It's been a few days now in Cedar Key, and I have started to adjust to life down here away from all my loved-ones. I was very homesick the first two days, but have decided to enjoy this awesome experience and not wallow in my self-pity and nervousness.

I really love being out on the boat. I don't mind the heat and the sun, and I think I can get the hang of driving the boat and taking pictures of dolphins. On my second day out I saw a group of 30 dolphins! It was amazing. They are so cute...but also aggressive. I watched them socialize and fornicate and spit water at us, but I also witnessed a near-infanticide - it was scary. There was a group of males that tossed the small calf (just a few months old) up and out of the water. Luckily though, they were just after the calf's mother (to mount) and had no real intention of killing the baby. That was the largest group I have seen so far. I have seen a few groups of three and four, but have sadly had two half days out on the boat due to wind and waves.

The rest of the time I spend inside the house doing photo-ID. It is excruciatingly boring. It's usually when I am photo-IDing that I start to feel homesick - too much time to think and miss people. I can't say I like working all these hours. It's pretty much work all the time, from 8am to 9pm. I would love to get a day to explore the island. Cedar Key is such a cute town! It is a little fishing town with shops and art galleries, but not a whole lot else. I could ride my bike from one end to the other in a half hour (if that). I am glad I am here. I am learning a lot about the field and about myself.