Thursday, December 24, 2015

Holiday Get Together

Hi All,
I've been commenting that we haven't seen any other dolphins since we have been down here except for the lone dolphin on the South Side. Usually we either see a lone dolphin around Pine Cay or get lucky and see a get together of JoJo's family. This is to say nothing of not having seen Whizzer for quite a few days.
We head out of leeward with spectacular sunshine glistening off the wavy water. There has been more rain then we have ever seen in December and we are thrilled to have brilliant sun over head.
We're off on our usual pattern looking for dorsals. Just as we arrive opposite the Meridian Club on Pine Cay, I see a lone dorsal. It's JoJo's distinctive dorsal with a little notch out of it. He seems interested in taking a ride and gets behind our boat. We take him all the way to Parrot Cay where he's wanted to go before. I get in the water there but he clearly wants a ride back toward Pine Cay. In the video you will see how clear the water is and how he followed me for a short distance.
As we arrive once again opposite Meridian Club on Pine Cay, we see two boats acting as we call it, "dolphin like". This means moving around slowly with people looking in the water. JoJo branches off and we start seeing three dolphins cavorting! This seems to be a happy greeting as we see dolphins hurtling through the air. Soon, they approach the boat and stay near. They seem to want me to join them. Unfortunately, when I get in the water it is so murky, I can't see any thing under water. I wait until I hear a loud "Pffff" as they surface and swim over. I try to stay with them but it is so murky I can't even see the flippers on my feet. I keep losing track of them but they keep swimming back to me. At times I am wondering where are they and "Pffff " they surface right beside me. It can be a little startling to have three seven foot dolphins pop up beside you with no warning! I recognize Lemon Lips not only because he keeps coming right to me with JoJo but I am able to see his slightly slanting dorsal and the little notch out of his fluke. Lemon Lips is Bo's calf that I met in 2012. He and Whizzer are brothers!! They both like interacting with me!! I can't identify the other dolphin but she's definitely a love interest. There is a lot of sexual activity with intermittent quiet swimming.  JoJo I'm proud to say is clearly joining in on the activities. This leads me to believe he may be the dad of all these calves. The dolphins, having none of the  hangups we humans have, seemed quite content to have me right there as they hold their orgy. At times, I need to back off as they are quite exuberant.
If this wasn't enough, at least three more dolphins show up. Despite my lack of vision under water I hear a distinctive whistle as a shape goes whizzing by!! It's Whizzer! Now, I'm swimming with at least six dolphins . How is that for a Xmas present?!
We had found JoJo at 10am. It's now after three. All the scooter batteries are dead, we have so much footage to go through and I'm happy but beat. Its time to go home. I now know why JoJo was milling around Pine Cay. There was a planned meeting of all these dolphins.
The video will not do justice to the event but you'll get the idea! I'm having a great deal of trouble publishing so I have made two videos hope this works!!
https://vimeo.com/149924029
https://vimeo.com/149958729

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