05 July, 1997. 5:00 pm. I receive a phone call at home.

"Hey, Nan this is Rich. Guess who we were just with? Onion!!"

"WHAT? Are you sure?"

"Yes! It was Onion."

I won't speak for anyone else, but for the last five years I have asked myself where do you come from Onion? Where do you go? There have been many times when Onion has come to me in my dreams. Onion has made appearances in some of my artwork as well. Over time Onion and Onion's companion, Butterfly, have become very familiar and very important dolphins to me. Perhaps with the connecting fiber through Rich we will gain some insight into the movement of other bottlenose dolphins up and down the East Coast of the US.

Yo! I am spinning around the room, spiraling out in all directions! A dream of dreams coming true. So of course I called Keith right away. An even bigger dream would be to see Onion in another place. And who was Onion with? Keith said he would be willing to finance a trip up to Manteo.... whooooppeeeeeeee! Better yet, why doesn't he bring the whole family right along with him. Tom, Sheri, and Elliot joined the Onion band wagon. Sunday evening, we pulled out of Beaufort with five adults, Olivia, and the two neonates, Lindsey and Elliot. On the way up one pit stop, Tom and Keith fueled up with chicken sandwiches from KING CHICKEN. Chicken in a bun, bones and all. Ha. Keith presented a cake decorated very skillfully, I might add, in frosting with a picture of Onion. You see Boss, you are an artist too.

We arrived in Manteo at midnight to be greeted by the Manteo gang. Monday morning first thing I jumped up and Rich pulled his photos for me to look over. Yes, definitely ONION! OH, joy of joys! I also thought I saw #789 "Rainbow", and #461 "Honey Mustard".

I went out with Rich on their boat, The Phoenix, as first mate. The water around the Manteo and Nag's Head area in Roanoke Sound is 2-3 feet deep. Rich says being as far north of Oregon Inlet as they are there is no tidal change. Amazing. As one moves closer to the inlet there is more of a tidal change.

On the dolphin watch trip Monday morning there were seven people, a small group. Rich wanted me to speak on the loud speaker system, heaven forbid! Yipes. Near marker #19 we spotted our fine flippered friends (1/2 mile North of marker 19). A group of 3-4 adults and 1 neonate. All the adults had good notches. We followed the group through the channel to Sandbag Island (out from Wanchese). I am 100% sure I saw Honey Mustard, one of Onion's known companions!!! (of course the photos could always prove me wrong). Hot diggity. Unbelievable excitement! The group took us to the end of Sandbag Island. After passing a family of Osprey, we encountered a group of two dolphins. One could have been Fatlip, but we weren't there long enough to really tell for sure.

South of Wanchese we came into a group of 30-40! Wowo! Honey Mustard was there, definitely. 75% sure one was #789 "Rainbow" but I could never be certain. Possibly #301 "Cabra". Babies, Babies, Babies! Lots of pink bellies, and spyhops. They were definitely checking us out.

Lots of cavorting, as Lynn would say. WOWEE. Beautiful dolphins. Rich put in the hydrophone. So many whistles did they make. Some clicks, heard the squeaky door sound! Alas, it was time to return to the dock.

But now I had learned the waters a little bit. Keith and company picked me up at the house, we grabbed some sandwiches, and headed to the ramp to put Spyhop in. What a crew! Keith, Vicki, Nan, Tom, Sherri, Olivia, Lindsey, and Elliot (the neonates of the group). Olivia makes herself at home on her little raft. The babies are asleep.

Zooooooooooom and off we go! We head out to where Rich and I had seen dolphins earlier in the day. We went over to the Sandbag Island. Going into a good 3-4 SW wind. We cut the engine and drifted downwind for a nicer ride, all the while scanning for dolphins with the binocs. Then we see another dolphin watch boat stoped over near marker #19 where we had just been. We checked the scene out and Keith thought he saw dolphins.

Over we go and there is a good sized group. Neonates! One was light colored, one was darker in color. Mom's with notches, and then...... I am looking through the Binoculars and who should swim into my vision but ONION!!! Oh Tra-la-la. Leap and twirl, spin and dance! Onion!! At last the moment to experience you in another home. And after closer examination we learn that Butterfly, your faithful companion, is with you too.

Onion and Butterfly together. 26-35 dolphins, 2-4 neonates, 3 or more calves. The neonates were cute as could be, bobbing around out there. Two freeze brands, #717 and #711, possibly "White-tipped Shark". However, after looking at the negatives we learned it was not "White-tipped Shark" but one we call Jesus, #610. One other dolphin looked familiar, possibly #1346, a mom with a really low leading edge notch that you might not see every time. I haven't confirmed this ID yet.

What a day! What a moment in dolphin history! Though it may have been happening for years, it was new to us. The dolphins already knew, they just weren't telling or else we missed the clues. Olivia even had a dolphin breath in her face!

Monday night Pizza party and Onion cake. Celebrate, Celebrate, dance to the music, to the rhythm of the dolphins.

Stuart Wescott, captain of a different dolphin watch boat, came over. He's been doing the dolphin watch for three years. Since, '95 he has seen freeze brands. I said I would send him photos (at least good photo copies) of Onion, Honey Mustard, and Butterfly, and #717, and #711. I looked at Rich's photos and wrote down numbers of frames that caught my memory senses. I'll have to have another chance to look them up in our books. The energy just wasn't there for it that night.

Tuesday AM. Keith, Tom and I take Spyhop out again. Past marker #19, past Sandbag Island, and out west from Bodie Island lighthouse. We saw a crabber checking his pots. An old timer he was.

"Excuse me, have you seen any bottlenose dolphins this morning?"

"Oh no. Ebb tide. You've got to wait for the Ebb tide. they follow the fish in on the Ebb tide."

"Ok. Thanks."

A few minutes later Tom gives the call, "Dolphins!" A huge group! A large % of the fins were highly notched. 16-25 dolphins. They swam close to the boat. Often coming up in formation all at once. Lots of beautiful fins, Roosterfin marks, one with very large notches, 5+, one with white coloring all over, like zinc oxide, "Whitey". Beautiful dolphins.

None we immediately recognized. But several that looked familiar. We passed by our crabber friend again.

"On a strong southwest wind they come in early! and he proceeded to point to dolphins all around him. We had a good laugh over that.

We didn't see Onion again, but it was exciting to see so many "new" dolphins so distinct. Where are they all from? Do they live in Manteo year round? Various reports from local crabbers said they see dolphins year round a little further inland in Pamlico Sound. And many of the other winter dolphins we didn't see, where do they go?

Rich and Kate have been the connecting fiber between study sites, helping and inspiring us to make "The Onion Connection". Wow.

p.s. All we can really say is in the summer of '97 Onion & Butterfly were in Manteo. I can hardly wait until next year!