JoJo's Pod Comes To Visit

Hi All, I'm getting kinda used to this seeing a whale each morning at Leeward and I like it! Just like yesterday, we drop the hydrophone, hear lots of great vocalizations, motor a little way and there's a humpback! He once again blows then dives deep with his tail propelling him down.

Also, like yesterday, we go back inside the reef to look for dolphins. After traveling past resorts, we start heading up toward Pine Cay. After a lot of dancing last night, I was planning a little snooze figuring we wouldn't see a dolphin until we reached the end of Pine Cay. There was a little debate at Ocean Club's Cabanna Bar regarding the music. Quentin who's clearly my favorite musician on the island was approached by a guest and asked to play quiet background music (read that as "Elevator Music"). I on the other hand was hoping for loud dancable music! I got my way and perhaps over did the dancing part. I've found that a short nap on the boat does the trick. It seems the bouncier the ride the better I sleep. Deep into a dream John slows Spy Hop down. I'm instantly awake. He says there's a dolphin ahead, no there lots of dolphins ahead all coming right to our boat. I scramble to pull on my flippers and mask drop into the incredibly murky water and all the dolphins are right there! I'm desperately trying to figure out who's who in the murk. More than anything I want to see Lemon Lips who I haven't seen since last February. He should be recognizable even in the murk because of the little slit on the right end of his fluke.

A dolphin approaches. Its Lemon Lips! He now has an abrasion on the front of his dorsal and of course the distinguishing slit. I'm so happy to see him. He brings me off for quite a few swims away from the others so we can spend some quality time together. I notice Snipper and JoJo coming by a lot. It seems everytime I get in the middle of this pod, Snipper and JoJo or Lemon Lips are closest to me. There are so many boats coming by to watch as the dolphins make their way toward Leeward. Most all respectful of the dolphins and they briefly visit most of the boats. However, one boat pulls up, drives quickly in between all the others interfering with everyone. Then, this HUGE man in a bright yellow suit cannon balls into the water right where the dolphins are. What was he thinking!?! These are wild animals that have graciously come by and not only is this rude to the dolphins but dangerous for him. They just swim off leaving him behind. We get to Leeward and for a brief moment there's some clear water. I notice that two of the dolphins have fluke markings I've never seen. Later, when I study the video, I see that these two also came by me a lot.

JoJo's Pod from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

I have now used up both scooters and the dolphins are scattering - some fishing, some heading back towards Pine Cay. Time to head home. We motor through the channel into the marina and I see one of the osprey drying his wings. We get as close as possible and he turns to look disdainfully at us "this is not my best moment".

We have had a great day I'm forever grateful to the dolphins for their friendship.