Sharrah's Comments on Meghan's Outline

This topic submitted by Sharrah Moss ( mossst@muohioedu) at 3:24 PM on 5/6/08.

The earth's axis of rotation wobbles like a spinning top. There are two periods (a wobble within a wobble): 19,000 AND 23,000 years. Precession has a profound effect on the earth's climate.

Tropical Field Courses -Interdisciplinary Studies-Miami University

Hey Meghan!
You picked a fun topic! Despite the populatirty of dolphins, most people know very little about these marine mammals.

My only suggestion for your current outline is to perhaps incorporate an overall research question, such as "What is the status of the dolphin population (in either or both locations)?" or "Are the dolphin populations of both locations connected? ie. is there movement of dolphin populatons between locations or do these populations exist independent of each other (especially the populations in the Fl-Bimini area which are very close in proximity)?". Or maybe look at the current research in both locations and compare them - How are they similar/different? I think you get the idea, but feel free to contact me/reply to this post to discuss it some more.

The Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization, based on Abaco Island, host many of these programs, but their main focus is research. I've been there several times and have worked on projects with the marine scientist who established the organization years ago. Each year they submit a report to the Bahamas gov't documenting the occurance, distribution and abundance of marine mammals in The Bahamas (also on their website).

Check it out at
http://www.bahamaswhales.org/

Several dolphin research expeditions are conducted each year in The Bahamas. Most of them focus on Abaco island, in the north, and Bimini, which is 50 miles east of Miami,FL, where the most frequent sightings occur.

Check out these links.

http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/dunn.html

http://www.volunteerabroad.com/listingsp3.cfm/listing/12428

http://www.oceanic-society.org/pages/alltrips/rschtrip6.html

http://www.dolphincommunicationproject.org/