Elodie and I joined Eric for a long weekend on the Northern Neck.  He's been getting lots of great data on the Potomac dolphins this month, and we wanted to get in on the fun.

Eric was out on the water every day, so I got lots of great baby time all to myself.  We played games, went to the beach, had hours of lazy snuggles in the sea breeze, and learned about wildlife.  On this trip Elodie saw rabbits, herons, osprey, pelicans, dogs, spiders, dolphins, and jellyfish.

Saturday was a perfect lazy back and forth from the house to the beach.  It was cool enough to have all the windows open, but warm enough to live in a swimsuit and carry iced tea around.  Beach living will always be my favorite.

Elodie loved the beach.  She just sat there peacefully enjoying the waves and played in the sand a little (didn't even try to eat it!).  When I would pick her up she'd cry, which is the opposite of any other time.  It seemed like she was loving it.  Must be in her blood.

Sunday, Elodie and I went on an adventure to Tangier Island.  Her first boat ride - so exciting!  It was an hour and a half ride each way and she loved it.

Pulling up to the island, you immediately see evidence of two main industries: tourism and crabbing. Crab pots and processing shanties line the coast of the main waterway.  When you step off the boat, locals are there to greet you with with golf carts, food and drinks, bike rentals, and maps. 

Tangier is incredibly interesting as a unique cultural pocket in the middle of the East coast. Because the only way to access the town is by commercial boats or plane, it's remained very isolated over the last couple of centuries.  You can see that so much has remained unchanged in their way of life.  The most obvious difference is in their accent, which is hard to describe.  It maybe sounds very country with a little bit of Irish on top?  Fun to listen to, anyway.

There are very few cars. Most residents get around on golf carts or bikes. I think they told me there are only about 500 people living on the island, so there probably isn't much traffic. 

The Tangier people are also very religious.  When we arrived everyone was just about to get out of church. It seemed like the entire population was coming out and the town came alive.  I noticed everyone we talked to referencing God or their faith.  It's evident that faith is a major part of the communities' daily life.

Another thing that stuck around from centuries past is burying your family in your own yard.  Many yards we'd pass had a family lot in the front like this one.

 Overall, I found the island and the people to be so lovely.  They are open about their lives and shared so much with Elodie and me on our short trip.  We learned all about the changes happening in their crabbing industry - fishing regulations over the years have been hard on their businesses.  Soft shell crabbing has been passed down generation after generation. It's sounds like it's the main way to support your family on the island. We also learned about the significant erosion problems, as in they are losing 30 feet of shoreline per year!  It's so bad that people are being forced off of the island as land space diminishes. 

The Tangier residents were hands down some of the friendliest, nicest people I've ever met.  And the place is so small you know everyone by the time you leave.  As we left for the boat at the end of the day, people were yelling, "Bye, Elodie!"

Evenings at the beach house always have wine with a home cooked meal. It's the perfect place to wind down after a long day on the boat.  The house is pretty remote, so we can usually see lots of stars.  I tried to take a picture of the milky way, but between the half moon being out, trees blocking much of the milky way, and my lack of astrophotography skills, it didn't come out great. I'll consider it a good first try.

Of course the main reason we travel down there is to collect data.  Elodie and I went down to the dock to wish Anni and Eric a good day.

NMFS GA LOC No. 19403, Eric M. Patterson, 25-July-2015

There were tons of dolphins this trip and Eric saw this cute little guy above.  I love the babies! And the photo is captioned with their permit number to make sure people know you do in fact need a permit to approach wild dolphins this close.  :)


We stopped for coffee in the quaint, artsy town of Montross on the way home.  If you're driving around the Northern Neck I recommend it as a rest stop!

as of today there is a book out there about dolphins featuring our research team from two summers ago!  we are literally in a children's book about dolphins!

here it is -  Pamela S. Turner's book called "The Dolphins of Shark Bay."  we have had an advance copy for a while and i'm so excited it's finally published and out there for people to buy.  pam was incredible to work with and the final product came out so much better than i ever could have imagined. i should have expected it to be great though, her entire "Scientists in the Field" series is superb and will be on our kid's bookshelves before they're even conceived.

another children's science book author, Loree Griffin Burns, did an interview with Pam about the book which can be read HERE.  i would highly suggest checking it out and have pasted question 4 below as a teaser.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The dolphins would play themselves, and cheesy computer-generated scenes would be banned. I would cast Sandra Bullock as Dr. Janet Mann. Eric Patterson could play himself because he’s already ridiculously good-looking. I would be played by Steven Colbert in drag.

not only is eric "ridiculously good-looking," obviously ;), but he get's to work with sandra bullock and steven colbert. in drag.  i enjoyed the interview.

in all seriousness, it's a fascinating book and i appreciate that there's someone out there making biology interesting and relatable to young people.  if you are friends with us and decide to have a baby in the next 10 years, guess what you're getting for a present?

AND how freaking cool will it be one day to say "look at mom and dad when they first met in this published children's book." and they probably won't care...

oh and a couple of my photos are in the book, so i'm technically a published photographer. yes!

the book is out today and you can get a copy here!

we spent a lot more time up at peron this summer with a second film crew trying to get footage of the dolphins beaching.  i talked a little about beaching when the first film crew was came, but basically beaching is when a dolphin is chasing fish close into shore and then traps the fish between itself and the beach.  it will then swim really fast and hydroplane out of the water, up onto the beach, grab the fish, and then slide back into the water.  it's a very cool behavior to see in real life.  if you can see them doing it.

we think dolphins beach on an incoming tide, or at least around high tide, but you never know when they might decide to do it.  and you never know how the weather will be, or if the mullet will be in.  that means that in order to film them doing it, you basically need to be on the beach, all day long, with lots of patience.

this is point peron from the boat.  some of us can hop off the boat and wait for beachers while others stay on the boat watching dolphins out away from shore.

 the other way to get to peron is by truck.  it's an hour and a half of off-roading through thick sand like this.  you don't want to drink your morning coffee before this ride! (it's very bouncy)

 once you get there by car, you hike down to the beach, and it's an incredible landscape.

 and once you're down on the beach.... you wait.  some days you wait all day long and never see a dolphin.  it can sometimes be boring, but usually there are lots of other things going on to check out.  like sea stars washing up that need to be thrown back out (unless they're already dead).

 or all the birds! there are so many birds at the point and they're fun to watch and take pictures of.  seagulls are so annoying and common, but get them in their element on a remote beach with other birds and they're actually pretty beautiful.

 another common bird in the bay is the shag.  here are some shags on the beach.  they are funny and quirky little guys.  they should have british accents.  "i think i'll go for a swim" "that sounds like a fine idea, shall we?"

 and sometimes while you're waiting, a big rainstorm comes!  it looks more ominous than it turned out to be.

 the beach ofter the rain was really pretty.

 and then guess what happened?  this amazing rainbow!  eric is out on that point under the rainbow looking for dolphins.

 and THEN guess what happened.  double rainbow all the way! i've never seen a double rainbow, it was quite exciting.

for all of the waiting you sometimes get lucky.  the fish are there, the weather is right, and in comes a dolphin.  here is fred getting some footage!

 this is what beaching looks like.  cha cha is getting speed and beginning to hydroplane.

 and here she has got the fish and is gliding back into the water.

 it isn't as exciting in photos as in real life or video.  if you're interested to see all of the action there's a very cool BBC movie that eric helped make a few years ago.  they got beautiful shots of the beaching plus lots of behind the scenes footage (eric and others on the beach).  here's the link, the beaching part starts at 8:28.

peron is really a beautiful spot in the world.  we're lucky to get to spend time there.  if only we could bring the girls! they would love it.

^^heron at point peron^^ :)  one of my favorite pics from the summer.