On my decompression day I am glad I am not diving. The wind has picked up from the south and I watch the boat leave the harbour at Prospect Reef for a rough crossing to the shelter of Peter island.On my decompression day I am glad I am not diving. The wind has picked up from the south and I watch the boat leave the harbour at Prospect Reef for a rough crossing to the shelter of Peter island.
I had saved something special for last, a swim with the dolphins at the opposite end of the resort. It's a relatively new and remarkably low key thing, located just 50 yards from my room I knew it was somewhere in the resort but not that it was right next to me.
The dolphins are captive bred and live in a fenced off lagoon. Once they are used to the area they will be free to come and go, returning for their meals as they have never learned to survive by themselves.
There is no coercion involved. The one male and three female dolphins are fed first, then invited to do a few “behaviours”. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. It's the animals decision. Visitors are invited to get in the water and join them, in this case me with a mask, snorkel and camera. Again it is up to the dolphins, sometimes they want to play and sometimes they don't.
Today they are curious and swim in close for a look. With wind from the south, visibility in the lagoon is milky. I am sure they know where I am all the time, I can hear their sonar clicking. From my point of view they suddenly appear from a metre away, then depart just as suddenly.
Swimming this closely with dolphins is a memorable experience; I have encountered dolphins before, but never nose to nose like this.