A special field survey on January 19th saw young Dolphin Watch supporters Jessica and Kimberley and their Mum Amanda come onboard as a thankyou for their fantastic efforts. Jess together with her friend Jacinta, who was unfortunately away in Adelaide at the time, are the driving force behind the Dolphin Watch fund raising and tourist education initiatives at “The Oyster Shop” in American River, part of KI Shellfish owned and managed by Amanda and her husband Ken, featured in the post  “Outstanding Local Support From Jessica, Jacinta and Kangaroo Island Shellfish” March 26th 2011. Joining them were Nina and her Mum Cathie, who through her role in Regional Development Australia, was the dynamic instigator of the successful Adult Community Education Dolphin Watch Programme in 2011, and one of the “stars” of that course Enya. Enya continues to volunteer her efforts in outstanding data analysis and cataloguing.

Rumer, another of the young supporters who has been feeding in excellent sighting and identification information regarding the American River pod, was pleased to see the 25 dolphins which appeared at Dashwood Bay and like everyone aboard, was particularly excited with observations of 4 new calves. In an interesting twist Colleen, who has previously worked in the Dolphin Discovery Centre at Bunbury, was able to compare her experiences with Bunbury and Monkey Mia in WA. The large number of dolphins amazed her as did the overall experience, particularly with respect to natural unaffected behaviours displayed by the dolphins. A beautiful “debrief” lunch session at project sponsors The Aurora Ozone Hotel, rounded out a perfect data collection research effort and a great opportunity to thank some of our youngest and most enthusiastic supporters. A Junior Dolphin Watch team will  commence in 2012 driven by the passion and commitment of these amazing young people.