Sunday, February 7, 2016

Sponge Bob and 3 More!!

Hi All,
The water is flat as we come out of Leeward. I have a friend, Trisha from home on board the morning. She has been a JoJo fan since she saw him from our boat years ago. We see a can floating in the water (trash) ask John heads over so we can take remove it from the otherwise gorgeous turquoise water. Just as we get there, JoJo pops up. Sound familiar?  Once again, he wants us to bring him to the South Side. Trisha gets an opportunity to see how JoJo lets us know where he'd like to go. Once we clear Leeward Channel and start heading toward the wreck that lies out on the South Side, JoJo starts swimming to the side of the wake on his side. I see dolphins do this when they are swimming along the bottom echolocating in search of fish. I assume he is echolocating to find dolphins. He branches off before we get to the wreck and swims around slowly. Not long after, dolphins start arriving. There are three. I get in hoping they are dolphins I know. They take a brief look at me and continue on. JoJo makes several attempts to bring me closer to them. They aren't very interested in me. This is only speculation but I would guess they are juvenile females. https://vimeo.com/154449953
 After a good hour of visiting with them JoJo moves off alone heading south. He gets in our wake and we take him until he branches off again. He then seems to want to swim around the boat maybe catching a quick nap. I get in thinking this would be a perfect time for Trisha to get in. But before she can get her gear on JoJo heads south. I climb back in the boat and see a dorsal in the distance. He is making his way to another dolphin!  Once they greet each other, I get in to find Sponge Bob. He appears happy to see me. He comes much closer than the first time I met him. When you watch the video look for a barracuda that was opening and closing his jaws in what I thought was a threatening sort of way. JoJo appears and comes around me. I don't know if he was protecting me but it appears that way and I appreciate it! S. Bob attacks one sponge and it looks like the sand! He wasn't crater fishing he was just smooshing his rostrum into the sand! He seemed to be showing off as he whirled and dove around me. https://vimeo.com/154473605

I don't know what JoJo's plan is but I'm sure he has one. Does he want me to meet the future generations of his family? Does he want them to meet me? There has been a progression in our friendship over the years. First magical swims. After about 5 years he started introducing me to mothers and calves but only on Grace Bay. Now he's letting me in on dolphins on the South Side. I think of JoJo as "Rabbit" in Winnie The Pooh. Rabbit kept track of all his friends and relations.

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