Dolphin & Whale Retreats

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Dolphin Antics

Hello Nature lover! In November 2002 I spent 11 glorious days on the Big Island playing with our wonderful dolphin friends...I hope you thrill as much as I did to this incredible experience!

I swam with these beautiful creatures at least 5-6 times and feel as though I bonded with them at a much deeper level than ever before (I've been swimming with them since 1998). The places I played with them were different from those I've been before...and my playful inner child was thrilled and joyous beyond belief!

The first encounter occurred while I was swimming to check out my snorkeling equipment: adjusting my mask, clearing the snorkel, getting acclimated to the water. As I got everything properly adjusted, I was swimming along lazily and all of a sudden found myself nose to nose and eye to eye with a dolphin directly in front of me at the surface of the water - and about 6-7 dolphins were right behind that one! As we made eye contact, this small group gently parted to swim on either side of me and I turned to become part of their pod, diving just below the surface and swimming easily amongst them. It's hard to put into words the magical feeling of being a dolphin - I sometimes forget I'm a human and must breathe a lot more frequently than they do!

A few days later I was snorkeling with 2 friends at 2-Step Bay next to Place of Refuge...this is a small marine park with great coral, lots of colorful fish, and beautiful turtles. A small pod of dolphins were in the bay and the majority of them were already in their deep rest state, meaning they were oblivious to swimmers and spiraling together up and down as they rested in preparation for their night's hunt coming up. Two dolphins, however, decided they wanted to play rather than sleep - it seemed to me almost as though they 'volunteered' to entertain the humans so the others could be undisturbed.

For about an hour, these two swam alongside us, underneath us, and shot out in front of us to jump and spin before our eyes - it was as though they were showing us how easy it is to do the spins! We 3 humans took a short break by bringing our heads up out of the water and talking and laughing together, bobbing in an open triangle formation. Without any warning, one of our playmates shot up out of the water right in the middle of us, leapt and spun, inviting us to get busy and play some more!!! My heart thrilled to the sight and I was pleasantly exhausted when I left the water.

On my last day on the island, I went out on the boat I charter for my retreats; there were about 7 swimmers total. The dolphins led us to a shallow bay off the coast where they proceeded to engage with each other and us in a gay time of chase, jump, spin, and play. Each of us swimmers had about a dozen dolphins swimming and playing around us at any given time - they were definitely inviting us to join in the fun. Their clicks, whistles, and calls were different than I've ever heard before, and they were quite vocal the entire time. After about 30 minutes, they moved around the point to the next bay.

In that bay, they joined with other dolphins, so that we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins. They cruised alongside the boat, swam under its bow and jumped as they came out on the other side; they surfed the wake of the motors, and put on an aerial show of great dexterity. One did a "Flipper" imitation, repeatedly jumping 3/4 out of the water and 'walking' on his tailfin - the more we cheered and clapped, the more he performed.

A baby dolphin, probably about a week old, was learning to jump - and could only make a horizontal leap and spin to the water rather than the vertical leap and spin of a more experienced jumper. His efforts were persistent and determined, and our hearts melted with his effort.

Then, an adult dolphin did something I've never seen one do: he swam alongside our boat on his back, belly to the sky, slapping the water noisily with his tail fin - Captain Carlos remarked that he might be imitating a human snorkeler because that's how we must appear to behave when we're in the water with them!

Each time I'm in the water or on the water with these amazing mammals, I'm reminded of the joy and bliss that are my birthright - I believe that's the dolphin mission and gift to each of us. While I certainly can't guarantee that YOUR next dolphin experience will be like these, there is always an opportunity for growth and joy whenever you're in the presence of these incredible teachers and playmates.