Podimonium

I'm hot, I'm sweaty, I decide to jump in the water and scrape some growth off the boat. With snorkel, mask and fins and my trusty scraper - I'm fully armed and dangerous. The water is warm and visibility is decent - it must be about 60 feet. Scrape, scrape, scrape - there's a lot of boat and I'll be busy for awhile. Maybe Beth and J will jump in and help me at some point, I hope.

I'm About to Die

I take a deep breath and go deep to tickle the boat in its nether regions. It's calm and almost zen-like in the depths. I get back to the surface only to hear's Beth's hyper-excited scream of, "Ken, Ken, Ken!"

Of course, that could only mean I'm in mortal danger as a bunch of bull sharks are making a bee-line for me. I don't even think of looking around, I swim like mad for the back of the hull (the one without a ladder) and literally launch myself on top of it. My heart is pounding - I got a full dose of adrenaline on that one - but it saved my life.

Something Special

The screaming doesn't stop, "Ken, get back in the water!" Hmm, I thought we were pair-bonded for life. Wasn't that the whole point of getting married? Now, she want's me to be eaten for lunch?

Finally she starts making sense as her words sink in, "A pod of dolphins is in front of the boat!"

Here they come!

Now, we've seen quite a few dolphins in the last six months. They like to come up to the boat while it's underway and catch a bow-wave. Typically, they'll hang-out for a few minutes before going off to party somewhere else.

We've even seen them come near boats and people for minutes at a time. There were a couple of dolphins that frequented Elizabeth harbor and we'd see them from time to time. Once, they even came within a boat-length of us as they slowly investigated the shallow depths where we were anchored.

Mom and kid

We love dolphins and a dream has always been to swim with them, so it took little encouragement for me to plunge back into the water - hoping to get a brief glimpse before they went on their merry way.

Sure enough, I see hazy shapes coming towards me. It's a pod of seven dolphins. There seems to be a mom with a junior dolphin hanging close and a bunch of males, rowdy and randy.

Swirling mass of dolphins off the boat

It's a little hard to count them as they're constantly in motion and pairs break off and circle around and under the boat in different directions. Each time, they gather back together in a swirling graceful ballet as they twine themselves around each other.

Coming to check me out

Finplay

The female seems to be getting all the attention, so we think it is either some sexual play or actual attempts to convince her to go "all the way".  The males eagerly rub against her but she coyly turns away and makes a dash under the boat.

Beth is taking pictures from the boat while J is jumping around like a bag of superballs dumped on the stairs. Minutes go by and still the dolphins are circling the boat, going under it and me and getting close enough to touch. I yell at the girls to join me for the unbelievable experience.

They perform their dance

Beth's in first, followed by J. We don't need to swim out to them or even really follow them, they are strangely attracted to us and the boat.  We move from side to side at the stern of the boat, ensuring a quick getaway should the males get too rambunctious.  In truth, Jeanette becomes unnerved when they get too close - especially when they swim underneath her, mere inches away - and she is in and out of the water frequently.  She hangs on Beth and stays within arm's reach, mirroring the interplay between the mama and baby dolphin.

Again and again, they are a twisting mass of shapes as between 2-4 males swarm the female and circle us slowly en masse. She seems to be having fun and scoots away from all the attention from time to time - only to let them catch her and get close again.

I swim towards them and after they scan me with some clicks and whistles, they decide that this ungainly bony body isn't likely to be any threat. They come towards and below me as they tumble and turn in their play.

I keep my hands behind my back as I don't want to threaten them. If they are really excited, I also don't want them to mistake my fingers for yummy little white sardines.

Carefully watching them as they come underneath me

Still the dolphins circle us and play. Over and over again they come within an arm's length of us - gliding and twirling beneath, beside, and around us.  This is going on for so long now, that I go back to scraping the boat! They seem curious to see me hanging upside down under the boat and come over to check me out again.

Their permanent grins suggest there is nothing but fun on their minds. I wave the bright yellow scraper at them to see if they'll engage it in play. They seem to notice it and bounce some clicks off it. As they drift off, I start making weird underwater sounds - sort of a mix between an elephant rumble and a hyena's yip, to see if they'll be curious about it and return. They seem to, but then, they've been hanging out with us for over an hour and a half now.

More finplay

Finally, we get out of the water, and that seems to signal that the party is be over as they immediately speed off in unknown directions and we don't see a glimpse of them after that.

Definitely some magic loose in the world yesterday!


Check out this video. If you listen closely, you'll hear whistles and clicks as they pass by.