Dance of the Dolphins

Paddling my SUP board on Mobile Bay and Weeks Bay this morning was a fantastic two hours of saltwater delight. The water was calm, the sunrise soft and inviting and I had two hours of dolphin bliss. And people wonder why I’m moving back to this place–this sacred, holy place.

I started in Mobile Bay and paddled through the pass at Weeks Bay. As I was making my way up the bay, I heard a HUGE splash. I turned around and saw fast-moving rings of water moving away from a large bottlenose dolphin. Another joined him and swam along side my board. Of course, I greeted them, said good morning, sang to them and laughed at their antics. In their hunting they turned head-down and their tales stuck up out of the water as they feasted. Dolphin tales, large sighs of air coming from their blowhole, calm water…what else could I ask for?

I paddled about 20 minutes with them as they fed and finally turned and paddled back towards the mouth of the bay. As I neared the pass, I saw misty blows backlit by the sunrise as a larger pod swam across the bay. How could I possibly resist another encounter? So I paddled back up the bay at an angle to intersect this larger group.

There were seven or eight in this group and one leaped out of the water right beside me, close enough to splash my board. There was one baby but the rest were adults. More feeding, more tails all around me, more cruises beside me. So elated was I, I about levitated off the board. I knew the meaning of joy on a visceral level.

After another 30 minutes of watching dolphin dance in the brackish water, I paddled back down the bay, through the pass and on to mom’s beach. My day was so blessed, so totally made awesome by these brothers and sisters of the sea.

After cleaning up and having my breakfast, I read where four dolphins had washed up in Alabama during the past week. The dead cetaceans consisted of a pregnant female and unborn baby, and a mother and baby. The mysterious dolphin deaths continue, all the more reason I am grateful for healthy dolphins frolicking and feeding.

If you pray, please say a prayer for all wildlife on the Gulf Coast. We’re still dealing with a LOT of unknowns from the oil spill. And while you’re at it, please say a prayer for the people here as well.

To order my books on nature, please visit my website, Turtle Island Adventures. You’ll find a children’s book on the oil spill, a photography book of images from many beautiful places in nature along with prayerful descriptions and a book of essays on the relationship between humans and nature, full of funny and inspirational stories.

P.S. These are stock image photographs. I was too busy communing to take photos. Sometimes the best photographs are those I never take.