Sponsored in cooperation with the Earthwatch Institute

Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand

Roughly 250 flashy dusky dolphins cavort around the Zodiak; 8 ride the bow, their heads scarcely half a meter from you. Dampened by the spray from their leaps and tail slaps, you marvel at the energy, grace, and precision of those sleek gray forms, each about the size of a man

But you are here to gather basic information on these dolphins' population and society, ultimately to assess the health of this stock and inform policy-makers of their needs. You note dolphin behavior-feeding, somersaulting, traveling , and so on, and observe a cloud of gulls. One of your teammates takes photos of nicks, scars, and blotches on the duskies' dorsal fins and backs to identify individuals so you can sort out who travels with whom and what the make-up is of this dolphin society. Another way to sort out relationships-and hence the duskies' social lives-is to analyze their DNA, but first one must get a sample. One of your field leaders, Tim Markowitz (Texas A&M University), deftly touches the back of a bow-rider with a sterile cleaning pad and pops the sample into a vial of preservative. Tim's wife, April Harlin, is obtaining enough bits of sloughing skin from this ingenious sampling method for DNA analysis. A report crackles on the two-way radio from the cliff crew high above you, where a computer-linked theodolite records position, travel speed, and distance from shore for targeted boats, people, and dolphins: they've sighted a tour boat with perhaps 35 aboard.

Tour boats bring as many as 180 people per day to swim with up to 1,000 dusky dolphins that play, socialize, rest, and nurture their calves in the shallows off New Zealand's breathtaking Kaikoura Peninsula. Clearly dolphins are good for business-an excellent incentive to protect them-but what, exactly, do they need? You're spending a lot of time on the water getting down the basics of the dolphins' existence. Since dusky dolphins are one of the major indicators of ocean health here, monitoring their status has major implications for conservation, fishing, and tourism policies. Eventually your data will help determine whether fishermen are robbing dolphins of fish, whether dolphins are getting tangled in nets, whether agricultural pollution is weakening them, and how much noise, activity, and tourism is too much. In short, your work will enable managers to make this system sustainable for dolphins, tourists, and fishermen.

Six years ago, dusky dolphin expert Dr. Bernd Würsig first used Earthwatch teams to document the dolphins' population size, seasonal distribution, and responses to human activities. With a doctorate in behavioral biology and ecology from SUNY at Stonybrook and more than two decades of cetacean fieldwork, Würsig is an internationally respected dolphin researcher. Because of Würsig's heavy teaching schedule, last year, two of his students-doctoral candidate Markowitz and master's candidate April Harlin-took over the fieldwork. During the 1997 season, Earthwatch teams helped take 18,000 ID photos of perhaps a third of the estimated 6,000 duskies that visit Kaikoura.

• 2 0 0 0 . T E A M S
• I: Jan 9-21 • II: Jan 23-Feb 4 • III: Feb 20- Mar 3 • IV: Mar 5-17 • V: Mar 26-Apr 7 • VI: Apr 9-21 • VII: Apr 30- May 12 • VIII: May 14-29 • Max team size: 6

• M E M B E R S ' . S H A R E . O F . C O S T S
from US $1,695 • £1,050 • $Aus2,595 • Yen ¥198,900

• R E N D E Z V O U S . S I T E
Kaikoura Airport, South Island

• F I E L D . C O N D I T I O N S
Be prepared for hours on the water and a steep climb to the vantage point. You'll stay in a modern, three-bedroom rented house (with laundry facilities), and test the culinary prowess of your teammates.