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| BACKGROUND: Dr. Randall
Eaton, Director of the Dolphin Project, began studying orca,
dolphin and beluga behavior in 1976 when he served on the
faculties of zoology, psychology, wildlife and fisheries at
the University of Washington. In l979, he founded the Orca
Society for the Study and Conservartion of Marine Mammals,
based at U.W., and soon it attracted over 5,000 members who
received the full-color, popular science magazine, Orca: Whales
and Humans, which was widely acclaimed. The same year he developed
two whale research stations in Puget Sound and supervised
student interns from Evergreen State Collee, Skagit Valley
College and Western Washington University. A field study of
orcas was initiated in the Johnstone Straits of British Columbia,
where, in l985, Dr. Eaton and volunteers of the Orca Project
actually befriended wild orcas, an event publicized in over
250 newspapers in North America. (Return to the first page
to learn more about the Orca Project). |
| Students and people of all ages from around
the world have volunteered to assist Dr. Eaton in his work,
which ranges from field observation and publication to production
ofaward-winning TV documentaries. Volunteers join him in the
field to learn and assist the project. The fees they pay support
the costs of field expeditions including equipment, food,
camp gear, boats, personnel and so on. Volunteers receive
instruction and learn about dolphins first hand. They also
have time for recreational pursuits ranging from kayaking
and fishing to birdwatching and snorkeling. The field project
is a mix of wilderness awareness, gained through intimate
environmental experience, science, education and personal
growth. The Dolphin Project presents special opportunities
to discover the flora and fauna of Costa Rica while participating
in an interspecies communication project with wild dolphins. |
| Discussions around the evening fire range
from science to philosophy and environmental ethics to sacred
traditions and the meaning of life. There is singing, making
music and story-telling. Many volunteers return from their
wilderness experience refreshed and feeling transformed. Nearly
all become ambassadors for the cetacean nations and wilderness.
(See endorsements from volunteers of the Orca Project.) |
| The field site of the Dolphin Project is
frequented by sizable populations of bottlenose and spotted
dolphins as well as humpback whales and even orcas which appear
to specialize on extremely abundant mantas. |
| Along with directing the Dolphin Project,
Dr. Eaton currently is affiliated with the Circumpolar Institute
at the University of Alberta, and he serves on the Editorial
Board of the internatonal academic Journal of Marine Tourism.
He served on the Species Survival Commission of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). |
| MISSION: The Dolphin Project
'05 has a two-fold mission. One is to identify the cetacean
species that frequent the northwest Pacific coast of Costa
Rica, and to record basic natural history information including
age, sex, group composition, movements and behavior. Attempts
will be made to photo-identify individual cetaceans. The other
is to examine the acoustic behavior of wild dolphins interacting
with humans in the water and how these sounds may influence
healing and mental states. See "Press Release,"
above. Recordings will be made of the sounds emitted by wild
dolphins at volunteers and staff in the water with them. These
same sounds later will be played back to naive human subjects
under controlled laboratory conditions to measure their influence
on brain states. |
| Expedition dates: Expeditions
are scheduled to start on July 18 and 30, August 10 and 22,
and September 3. They will resume during December and January.
Expeditions start at noon on the start-day and end at noon
five days later. Volunteers are expected to find their way
to the embarkation point and be there no later than noon on
the start-day. |
| Embarkation: Potrero Bay,
next to Flamingo. Volunteers will be met by Dolphin Project
staff at noon at Restaurant Pleamar which sets immediately
next to Potrero Bay. Owing to weather conditions and other
unforseen factors, allow time for project staff to arrve and/or
locate you. Pleamar is a good place to eat, and owner, Simeon,
is a true lover of the marine world and its inhabitants. Volunteers
will be returned to the embarkation point. |
| Costs: $950 per person,
$750 for students, and family rates available. Fes cover costs
of camping gear, travel to and from camp, boats, fuel, marine
safety gear, food, cooking and eating utensils, radio/emergency
phone, binoculars and spotting scope, tents, instruction and
supervision. Cost does NOT include alcoholic beverages, candy,
fishing gear/tackle, scuba or snorkeling gear, personal cameras
or film, linen or maid service. GO
TO PAGE 2 |
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