Swimming with a wild dolphin

A couple of posts back I promised to tell you more about Dave and I swimming with a wild dolphin. I’m finally making good on that promise. 

We were in Prince Rupert Bay, Dominica. One day before the Salty Dawg Rendezvous even started, Dave noticed a fin in the water a fair distance behind our boat, then he noticed a dinghy hanging out near the fin, and two swimmers in the water. Using our binoculars, we realized there was a dolphin playing with the two swimmers. This went on for about 30 minutes before the dolphin disappeared and the swimmers returned to their boat. We later learned from one of the PAYS guys that there was a dolphin that had been frequenting the bay for the past two years, frequently playing with swimmers.

The day after my cousins arrived, one of them noted a dolphin not far from our boat. Dave got in the water, but the dolphin disappeared, so Dave came back. Then we saw the dolphin reappear with a group of swimmers off to our starboard. This time we both got in the water and swam over to join the group. 

It was amazing! The dolphin swam from swimmer to swimmer for about 20 minutes, sometimes just cruising by, sometimes pausing for a moment. It appeared to enjoy belly rubs, as it would often swim up and turn its belly toward a person. Dave got a brief ride holding its dorsal fin once. We both got to run our hands along its side a few times. It felt almost like cool, hard rubber. Despite its close passes by the humans, it never hit anyone with tail or flipper; it has an amazing sense of its surroundings. When it got tired of the play, it simply swam away.

Best wildlife encounter ever!

I did remember to grab my underwater camera before jumping in, but we were more focused on interacting with the dolphin than capturing photos and video, but we got a few good shots. Enjoy the stills and the video of the first drive by the dolphin gave me.

Until next time, stay safe and take care of each other!