The Secret Lives of Dolphins

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I decided to go sea kayaking. I’ve been kayaking on numerous occasions. It was a past time of mine in the days before babies to check out the various kayaking locations around the state of bliss I lived in. So I was game for a little paddling adventure on the Atlantic Ocean, at lest I thought I was. As it turned out, paddling was half the issue really. Getting in the kayak was another thing altogether. Though the water was relatively calm, my beloved insisted on getting in right at the shoreline instead of on the lovely sandbar I could see was just ahead of us. Having grown up on an island, I know a sandbar when I see one. He was not aware that there was a shallow spot looming ahead of us. And the problem with getting in where we were was the waves. They kept crashing right in my face as we tried to get past them. At one attempt at getting in they knocked me out of the kayak. And I’m not as small as I used to be. I have a feeling I looked something like a sick whale attempting to climb into a small boat. Eventually, though, after much swearing, a threat to quit and a large scrape on my knee, I did make it into the boat and we got out past the waves.

It was a nice day on the water. Out past the shore there were no waves; it was quite calm. We were enjoying ourselves, paddling around a short distance from the beach, when all of the sudden we saw and heard dolphins jumping. We paddled as quickly as we could in their direction, and soon found ourselves in the middle of their pod, with dolphins jumping near and far in several directions. It was an amazing experience; the first encounter I’ve had with dolphins in the wild. So we tried to figure out where they were going, and position ourselves nearby. However, when we would paddle, the dolphins would stop jumping. It was a constant challenge to get to a good spot, and wait long enough for the dolphins to reappear, but not so long that we found ourselves too far away from them. It was amazing to hear the gentle blowing sound they made as they surfaced for air and to realize they were so close. At one point, 2 came up just behind our Kayak close enough to have touched them with the paddle. What a thrilling adventure.

Now I have been a lover of marine life for years. The ocean was all around me as a child, and I delighted in learning all about it and the animals that lived in it. At one point in my life I wanted to be a marine biologist, until I learned it was hard to eat on their average salary. Dolphins are one of those amazing creatures that I’ve never been able to get too much of. For my birthday, on our honeymoon (yes, the 2 event coincided) I asked to go swim with dolphins while we were enjoying the Florida Keys. It was thrilling experience.

So now that my 2 year old also loves animals, we indulge her requests to head over to Sea World regularly. Our first stops are very predictable: Manatees and Dolphins. While other folks line up for hours in the hot sun to feed the dolphins, we know what they do not discover until after they’re hot, sweaty and sunburned: there is an underwater viewing window that allows you to get even close, and it’s AIR CONDITIONED! We head there and watch as long as we like.

Yesterday we visited our friends the dolphins once again. They were swimming, playing, eating and…what were those 2 doing over there? Was that what I think it was? Oh my goodness, right in front of our eyes 2 of them were going at it! There was absolutely no denying what was happening. I was a little shocked and embarrassed for them. Such graceful creatures, only sex while swimming appears to be a bit of a challenge. I’m sure it wasn’t made easier by the relatively small enclosure they swim in with several other dolphins, and all of us humans standing there gawking at the, um, “activity”.

I have to say that while I have loved dolphins for much of my life, I have never exactly felt a need to see dolphin love. Sex has always been a rather taboo subject in my life. I suspect my mother thought it was a bit dirty. I wasn’t concerned for my girls, they’re too young to have noticed. But there was a mother, and her son, maybe 10 years old, standing behind us. He pointedly asked “Mom, what are those 2 dolphins doing?” Embarrassed, she tried to offer a polite, and misleading answer about maybe they were fighting. However, this was no stupid 10 year old, he turned to his mother and said “I know what they’re doing, they’re mating!” It was kind of hard to deny it at that point. I felt badly for that mother. One doesn’t normally take the kids to Sea World for sex education!

I have a feeling that this was one of those defining experiences which forever after shapes your view of a subject. I think some of my dolphin innocence slipped away that day. Sure I was able to enjoy the dolphin show half an hour later, but as we walked past the dolphin nursery on our way out, where several mommy dolphins are expecting their babies later this summer, I couldn’t help snickering thinking “someone else is going to be joining you soon.” And I wonder if I’ll ever be able to look upon these majestic creatures again without images of “the act”