Whizzer and Bo

Hi All, The wind has kicked up as predicted. We decide to take a pass by the resorts in case any of the dolphins are there. The waves are getting bigger and bigger as the wind picks up. On our return trip from Beaches, Whizzer comes rocketing up to our boat. Apparently they all know the new motor! I can't wait to slip in despite the rough seas. He circles around gleefully in greeting. There are people watching from shore as he cavorts around porpoising and spy hoping. Now he's diving deep and playing around in the sand. He's chasing a little fish. Now he's digging around with his rostrum and seems to have gotten a piece of coral stuck in his mouth! Bo comes up as if to check on the situation. Whizzer is shaking his head trying to dislodge it. He sticks his rostrum back in the sand and that seems to do the trick. He sees some seaweed floating on the bottom. He starts swimming through it trying to adorn his body. The dolphins move farther down the coast and the water gets too murky for me to see them. I get back in Spy Hop and watch as Whizzer checks out a kayak (who is totally oblivious to his visitor) then he's off to check out a Hobie Cat. He periodically comes to check on us. I'm so glad to see Whizzer in his usual wild man state.

Whizzer Plays from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

A Cetacean Day

Hi All, I have been looking forward to this day because the weather forecast is perfect! Brilliant sunshine and flat water make for good sightings! We leave Leeward with a boat full of friends. On our way back from Beaches, JoJo joins us as we go past Seven Stars. He is looking for a ride to Pine Cay. Once we get there he branches but comes back to Spy Hop and stays around our boat. This is a nice opportunity for people to get in and swim with him. A few boats pull up and he visits each of them. Unfortunately, it's Melanie's last day on Provo and we need to bring her back to Ocean Club so she can catch her plane. JoJo doesn't choose to accompany us so we leave him with his admirers. After dropping off Melanie, we make a quick check to see if any other dolphins have joined JoJo. He was following a boat which means he's by himself. My other friends are real whale enthusiasts and toady is a perfect day to see them. Once over the reef we see a mother and calf. Unfortunately there are a number of other boats have seen them as well. We follow at a respectful distance but clearly the mom wanted no part of the humans. On the Silver Bank where most of these Humpback whales are headed there are only three boats allowed at a time. If you are trying to watch a mother and calf and they turn away from you three times you must leave the alone. There is actually a warden on board one of the boats that enforces these rules. Here however, I have seen a lot of pushy behavior from boats. I really think some of the whales are okay with humans getting in to swim with them however if they clearly are on the move then it's disrespectful. We leave these whales and head toward Northwest Point. I spot something in the water that I think might be trash and we go to pick it up. As we get near, we see it's a bird with a very long tail sitting on the water. As we turn to go it flys off showing it's beautiful long tail. I realize it's a Tropic Bird. They always show up at this time of year to nest and have their babies. The rest of the year they stay over the ocean.

As I'm looking out at the horizon, I see some black shapes that look like big dolphins. We have seen these before. They are actually Pilot whales. They are very shy and we don't get very close. Just as we are thinking we should start heading back there are two big blows right near our boat! Then two big Humpbacks swim past us and keep going. We decide it's time to head in. I'm sorry I didn't see Bo and Whizzer but, we certainly had a great day!

A Great Day With JoJo

Hi All, My friend is on board again and we are hoping to find Bo and Whizzer. I'm getting more and more nervous that Whizzer isn't ok. He spent the whole day without playing on Sunday, VERY unlike him. Today, we find JoJo right off and he's very interactive, unlike the day before. He wants to scratch on a tour boat's anchor line. He follows us up to Parrot Cay and back to Beaches where I get some great swims in the beautiful clear water. He follows me around some of the boats at anchor. He swims ahead of me as he aims for the swim area. We go under the swim line and I see a submerged buoy. I head over with my scooter, dive and run into it. He loves "bang the buoy"! He whips around to come watch clicking at me as the buoy swings wildly on its line. JoJo loves the game. We then go back to Spy Hop and he gets in position behind the boat indicating he wants a ride. We take him to Leeward and then on to Pine Cay. He shows off for a few more tour boats on the way. The tourists clap and cheer as he comes up to breath. I know he likes that. Now we are off to the end Pine Cay. I'm hoping Bo and Whizzer will join him BUT not to be. JoJo leaves us to swim in Big Blue's wake and after 6 fun hours with JoJo we head home.

Nothing Like a great Scratch from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

JoJo Taxi Service Day

Hi All, We come out on the water hoping that the forecast will prove wrong. The predictions is for thunderstorms. We have brought a great horse friend from Tennessee with us. She has been coming for a number of years and met JoJo a few times. She's dying to see Whizzer. She's dedicated her whole life to animals, primarily to horses so she gets my passion. We see two huge catamaran motor boats coming our way. There are people in the back looking into the water on the first boat. The second boat is following closely behind. A sure sign of JoJo in their wake. He is there alright! We follow along waiting for them to go somewhere he doesn't want to go! He gets a little behind and changes to the second boat's wake. We still bide our time. Success! They turn into Leeward and JoJo comes to us. He stays in our wake until Half Moon beach then branches for some serious fishing. This can take some time. Dolphins eat about 20 pounds of fish a day. When he fishes in this area he isn't crater fishing, he is chasing after fish. It's easy to tell because when he dives he uses his tail to propel him down. Just like whales this gets this gets him deeper in the water. If you are watching whales and you see their tail (fluke) they are about to do a deep dive and you probably won't see them for a good twenty minutes. With JoJo he will pop up pretty far away from his spot of entry. We keep a close watch so we don't lose sight of him. This is not a good time to swim with him because he's flying through the water in hot pursuit of fish. A tour boat comes along with scores of people all hanging out of the boat trying to get a glimpse of JoJo. He can't resist. He has to put on a show. They are all dancing around the boat, hooting and hollering (rum punch will do that to you). Soon, they have all checked, "seeing the dolphin" off their to-do list and we are left alone with JoJo. He now wants to head to Pine Cay. He branches off before we reach the end of the island. He is milling around and this may be a good time to get in with him. I slip in and he comes right up. Melanie hops in and he starts heading out toward the reef. I think he wants to fish more. We lose sight of him. I'm hoping we will find him again and perhaps the others will be joining him. However those storms that were predicted are heading our way and we're off dodge the rain!

A JoJo Greeting from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Catch Up

Hi All, We are getting a very uncharacteristic late start. The super bowl had a lot to do with this! The sea is a little churned up today and there are bans of rain coming frequently. I think I'll use this as a catch up day! Last month we made a trip to French Cay on an absolutely lovely day. There was no wind the seas were totally flat. We met up with dolphins just as we were leaving and I have included video that includes the most wonderful noise of their surfacing. I get to hear the "pfffs" a lot it. They help me find them if the visibility in the water is poor like on this day.

pffffff-best noise ever from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Two days ago I was telling you about how JoJo Bo and Whizzer were just swimming around our boat perhaps hoping I'd get in with them.

A Day With JoJo Bo and Whizzer

Hi All, I am thinking the dolphins will be at Pine Cay but we stick to our routine and head out on our usual tour past the resorts. I'm also thinking they now know our new motor which should help in finding them. As we make our return trip, I see a dorsal in front of Club Med. They are all there - JoJo, Bo and Whizzer! JoJo comes right up and seems to want a ride. He wants to check out our new motor's wake! I however want to swim with all three. Bo and Whizzer come up. Whizzer is staying in travel position under Bo's belly. If you look carefully his eyes are partially shut perhaps he's sleeping. Half his brain is in sleep mode while the other half is still active telling him when to breath and where to stay with his mom. When I look up, I see that there is a large group of sail boats from Club Med heading our way. Bo checks them out as well and opts for going to the other side of our boat so that Spy Hop blocks them from the Hobie Cats. This I'm thinking is good because I don't want to get in the middle of a crowd of sail boats! The plan doesn't work however because some of them see the dolphins anyway and come over to look. The first one gets too close and with a pump of her fluke Bo and Whizzer are off! After they settle down I catch up to them.JoJo is now with us as well. He however wants to visit a sail boat. A lady drops into the water from the boat and JoJo checks her out before catching up to Bo, Whizzer and me. As always Bo keeps away from other swimmers in the water. Oh no, I see another boat and it's bearing down on us, near miss! John's yelling at the lady sailing because she almost hit me! Finally, all the boats head off and we swim leisurely past Ocean Club and on to Leeward. It's so great to see JoJo, Bo and Whizzer together for such a long time. We decide to venture out past the reef to do a quick whale check. No spout and no noises or singing in our hydrophone. We come back in and the dolphins are still at Leeward. They come to meet us and swim around our boat inviting me to join them but I am pretty cold from swimming with them for so long and both my scooters are dead. I'm not sure if Whizzer just out did himself the day before or what but he was mellow all day. I'm sure there was a lots of snoozing going on with periods of flipper footsie and nursing.

JoJo Bo and Whizzer all Day from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

I'm Back!

Hi All, After a quick trip home, we arrive in Provo anxious to see how are new out board motor is going to work. I drop John off at the shipyard where the motor has been installed. He has to drive around and pick me up at Blue Haven where we keep the boat when we are on island. After all that, we are finally out on the water with the new motor humming along. The first thing we have to do is of course find the dolphins. This will be a little harder than usual because they know the sound of our old engine and will come to us if they hear us in the area. Dolphins have a great sense of hearing. We start out past the resorts. A couple at the Shipyard told me JoJo had taken a ride behind their boat to The Royal West Indies, a resort right down from Ocean Club. As we head toward the resorts, we pass a Big Blue boat. John notices that they have stopped. We radio and they tell us they just saw two dolphins. We must have just passed them. Again, because of the new motor they didn't show themselves. We go back and look all over but can't find them. We continue on making the loop to Beaches and back. As we approach Leeward, we see two boats circling slowly. Definitely dolphin sighting behavior! We motor up and I get in to find Whizzer, Bo and JoJo they hardly react to my presence. I don't think they expected me because the motor was different! I get out for a moment and Whizzer "spy hopped" way out of the water. Dolphins can see above the water as well as they can below. He was definitely looking into the boat to see me. Hopefully, now they will associate the new motor with us. I get back in and they all come to greet me! Whizzer is now under Bo's belly. He is getting bigger and bigger and is almost as long as Bo. Whizzer reaches under his mom's belly to nurse. She has a slit on both sides where her milk is stored. There is nothing protruding that would slow her progress down in the water. Dolphins are built for speed. JoJo appears and Whizzer and JoJo play flipper footsie, an affectionate greeting. They come visit me a few times then start playing. JoJo opens his mouth just like Bo did. It appears to be mock fighting. Whizzer starts to get aroused rubbing himself against JoJo. He is such a teenager! All of this activity is taking place in Leeward Channel where the huge yachts are traveling in and out! I decide maybe I'd better get out! Start the day in Boston, end the day swimming with dolphins how cool is that!

Bo Whizzer and JoJo. from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.