I often write all the time about the dolphins, interesting facts, research, breakthroughs, movies and general information all regarding these amazing creatures. But today I bring something very unique and dare to the table. My own personal first time dolphin experience.
In this blog i will share with you the many high’s and even some low’s of the dolphin swim experience, I didn’t start off in life loving the idea of swimming with dolphins. In fact on the contrary, I was quite intimidated by them. I just didn’t know what to expect from them. Luckily on my first encounter with dolphins, I was not entirely alone, my sister had come along for the experience as well, so at the very least I had someone to explore this new world of dolphin swimming.
This experience began much like I had been told for weeks leading up to the event, first upon entering the facility and checking in, we needed to meet up with the trainers. So they could brief us and the other participants on the proper protocol of how to interact with the dolphins. This in my opinion was one of the few low’s at least i thought that way at first. I was very skeptical of this part as i thought to myself, what protocol with dolphins do you need? You just get in and swim how hard is that? However after thirty minutes of the trainers speaking, I began to understand the importance of what they were saying, while some of the advice was pretty common sense oriented, like don’t be aggressive toward the dolphin, don’t kick, or punch or hit the dolphin in any way. I mean really those are pretty obvious. But something they said I remember would resonate with me and change forever how I viewed these spectacular creatures.
They said one of the most important things when swimming with the dolphins and being with them in general, is to never lose your patience, be relaxed and laid back, and they would be able to literally feel your relaxed energy and as a result be more friendly and playful to you. I took this and applied it to every dolphin experience there-forth and it has been one of the single most important premises for how i conduct myself with the dolphins.
Once finished with the briefing it was time to suit up and get in the water with the dolphins. My sister and I suited up in no time and before you knew it, we were in the water with the others, waiting for the dolphins to make their grand entry and appearance. We were all casually standing in the shallow end of the water and making small talk with the trainer when suddenly this eruption out of the waves occurred, and it happen to be one of the most beautiful dolphin jumps I had ever seen.
With a grand entrance the program kicked off in full force, we first got to stretch out our hands and pet the dolphin. I felt his smooth sleek fine skin rub against my hands and it was like nothing I ever felt before. Almost like rubbing against soft cushion rubber, or against a newly minted sofa, very impressive.
After that my sister and I both had a chance to kiss and shake the dolphins fin, he gave a sweet look and sound as we did it and made my sister and I laugh quite a bit.
Finally it was the moment we had been waiting for, it was that time in the program where the trainers said, “OK we need everyone to line up”. which we all knew meant it was time for the dorsal fine ride. As I was standing in line with my sister, I remembered asking her are you nervous, and she replied, “why would I be because they are all cute loveable little fishies” . Which instinctively made me feel better and cleared much of my anxiety, I watched my sister go and as she held onto the dolphin’s fin. I saw her began to move rapidly across the water and it looked like a lot of fun. My time had come, I did exactly as I was told and I relaxed myself and said time to have fun. The dolphin came around and I grabbed the fin gently but firmly and securely, and I felt the sheer rush go to my head, as the speed picked up dramatically. It was equivalent to being pulled with a small motor speed boat. Without question one of the best times I ever had and one that has shaped my love and admiration for these animals ever since.
So now you know the story of my very first dolphin swim experience, it has changed my life and given me a new perspective about dolphins. It made me want to spend time and write about these creatures as much as possible and to get the word out just how amazing they really are.
Hope you guys enjoyed the blog post and the pictures. Let me know what you think? Have you ever done a swim with dolphins activity? Would you ever consider doing one after hearing this? Do you have any unique experiences with the dolphins you would like to share?
Let us know, until then,
God Bless,
Tarek
