As I spent more time with the dolphins I noticed that some had white dots, others distinctive dorsal fins. Individual killer whales can be recognized by the marks on their fins, and I suspected that photo-identification would work for the dolphins. No one had tried it before with this species, and other researchers assured me that the dolphins would be too fast and their fins too small to find reliable markings. I took that as a challenge, knowing that if I documented enough variation between dolphin fins, I could start to track individual life histories. Getting a good ID shot of any animal takes patience.
Lighting has to be bright, the animal close, and the focus crisp.
Dolphins add a dimension of speed. My first few rolls caught only splashes. Eventually, I learned to ignore spouts and splashes around me and rivet my gaze on a single spot of water where a dolphin might appear. When a sleek wet fin breaks the surface, I release the shutter. One sunny yet sub-zero winter day when the dolphins seemed to be in especially boisterous sprits, I stayed too long focused on the task.