JoJo More Like his old self

Hi All, A front has moved in making the water really rough. I'm thinking as we bounce our way toward Beaches, the day might be better spent catching up on business from home. We didn't go out yesterday because the water was even rougher. JoJo seems to be getting into his long rides behind our boat and I don't want to let him down! On our way back JoJo shows up in front of Seven Stars. He then wants to go WAY past the reef where the waves are seriously HUGE. We leave him out there afraid we won't make it back! After a big circle inside the reef, he once again heads our way. Off we go now to Crystal Bay. This time when he branches off he doesn't ditch us. As he's traveling over a reef he slaps his tail hard in the water. Perhaps he's trying to get rid of his Remora? I've only seen him slap his tail a few times. Once he was admonishing a younger and perhaps naughty dolphin. The other time he had something irritating his mouth and I think he slapped the water hard in frustration. Now he starts heading toward Spy Hop. Apparently he wants to go North toward Leeward. John fights the waves as we go past Leeward and on to Pine Cay. There's barely a tour boat out it's so rough today. JoJo branches off and John gets in for a quick and bouncy swim. I have totally lost sight of JoJo, so we decide to make a circle in case he wants to find us. He does and he's in the company of Bo and Scooter! I haven't seen them for days and am thrilled lumpy seas or not! When I get in JoJo takes up his old position right behind me. This really makes me happy! Scooter is so friendly making all sorts of wild circles around me. There is only one tour boat that comes along to watch. It's a catamaran with a few hardy passengers! By this time JoJo has gone off somewhere but Bo and Scooter are very interested in looking at the boat. I think Bo is showing off her calf. I think Scooter is way to busy flying around me to really care about them! I know if you are up North reading this you will have little sympathy but I get really cold if I'm in with the dolphins a long time. When I get out because either I'm really cold or my scooter has died Bo and Scooter come right to the boat. They are wondering why I'm leaving them and seem to be inviting me back in.I'm of course quite flattered and have to get back in. We found JoJo around 9:30am and it's now 3:30 pm. John is pooped from driving through the rough water and I have worn out two water scooters and working on a third! Time to go! Thank you, thank you dolphins!

JoJo Bo and Scooter from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Bo and Scooter from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

JoJo takes a Long Ride

Hi All, JoJo may not be taking me for long swims yet but he's back to staying behind our boat for long distances. We are looking out toward the reef in front of Pine Cay where we had found Bo and Scooter a few days ago. As I turn to look inland I see a dark shape heading right to our boat. This is where JoJo left us yesterday afternoon. Apparently now he wants a ride back toward Provo and Grace Bay. John heads Spy Hop in the direction JoJo wants to go and JoJo gets right behind our boat to get the maximum drag effect as well as surfing the wake. We are off! As we are motoring along, I signal to boat captains that he's in our wake so their passengers can see the famous JoJo. I point to him in the water and they all look at me like I'm nuts until he surfaces for to breath then they all clap and shriek with delight! He's still at the back of our boat as we pass Smith Reef and into Crystal Bay. He branches without so much as a thank you! I don't get to see if the nasty little remora is still there, perhaps tomorrow!

JoJo acting more Like JoJo

Hi All,

For the last few days we have found JoJo. He hasn't been interactive me or our boat. Today I'm determined to find him. I'm thinking if I do I won't even try to swim with him unless he comes right to our boat, in that way inviting me in.We look up and down the coast no sign of a dolphin. Around noon I suggest to John that we eat our lunch in Leeward Channel hoping to see JoJo. As I'm munching on a bag of potato chips (that I'm not supposed to eat)I see a dolphin heading right to Spy Hop! He circles around and I figure maybe he wants me in this time. He makes a few passes by me. That tenacious little remora swimming right along beside him then attaching to JoJo's side. I see Jojo start to head off and notice he's making a bee line for the Club Med snorkel boat Miss Turquoise. JoJo's being visible. He stays right at the surface as he approaches so everyone can see him. Finally someone notices and there's a load excited chorus of "there's JoJo". He swims to the back of their boat and takes a ride to Club med where he peels off. I think every single person and there were lots got a chance to film him most with go pros on sticks. John passes by JoJo and he gets in our wake. He now wants to go to Pine Cay which is in the direction he just came from. I think this is his way of checking out his territory. Once we get to the end of Pine Cay he vanishes as only a dolphin can do! I'm so happy to have a brief swim with him and see he's acting a little more like himself despite that annoying remora.

JoJo and Remora cont from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

A Spectacular day on the South Side

Hi All,

It's not often it's perfectly flat on the South Side but today it is! We start out early to take advantage of the perfect water. David Green our friend and avid dolphin lover meets us at the dock. We haven't seen him since last winter and he comes bearing gifts! He and his wife designed Tee Shirts with a logo of Spy Hop, JoJo and Me!! We head out eyes peeled for dorsals. Just as we reach French Cay, David sees a dorsal. Even though I don't know this dolphin, he lets me swim up to him as he's crater fishing. He takes a good look at me then continues on his fishing mission! The water is so clear we can see fish, rays and sharks without even getting in. We do however have a few great snorkels before heading home. We leave enough time to go out front where the water isn't half as nice. I'm hoping to check in with JoJo. We find him fishing out by Grace Point. He's busy and not very interactive and yes that pesky remora is still stuck on him. Perhaps tomorrow the water out front will calm down and I can swim with JoJo.

Spectacular Day on South Side from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Turks T day

Hi All, Yesterday, while eating an amazing feast with our good friends the Levays, it was mentioned that in Turks, the Turks islanders give thanks on the Friday after our T'Giving Day. Apparently the dolphins do the same. It is absolutely the most gorgeous day ever. The sun is glistening off the water. We see five flamingoes fly over head making their funny honking noise. The water is absolutely flat. I'm hoping to find JoJo and that the remora will have found a new host. I haven't had a really nice swim with him yet. We go to Beaches, turn back then motor all the way to Pine Cay. John is always hoping to fit in a snorkel in between dolphin searches. I say lets snorkel inside the reef out past Pine Cay. Just as we start heading that way I see a dark shape in the water I hope it's JoJo. As we motor over to take a closer look. We see a shark peacefully making its way to the reef. On a normal Pine Cay day the water would be so murky we wouldn't have been able to see this shark. Once he travels over the dark reef' we lose sight and continue on to find the perfect reef to snorkel. Two dorsals appear traveling parallel to the reef. So much for the snorkel! We are off to follow the dorsals. We are sure it's Bo and Scooter. Bo is having her Thanksgiving feast as she dives deep doing some fishing. It appears she's teaching Scooter how to do deep dives. Her cute tail is coming way out of the water to propel her far down into the deep blue water. They are traveling fast and I figure they will fish for a while then turn toward shore and hopefully come to the boat so I can swim with them. After a half-hour or so, they start heading away from the reef toward Pine Cay. They head toward Spy Hop. (How lucky am I!!!!) I get in with them but Bo isn't done fishing. They are whizzing around under me and I see why. There is a nurse shark minding his own business but this always causes great excitement for the dolphins. I don't see her poke him with her rostrum but I'd say she probably did. In any case, he swims off glad to get away from this pesky dolphin. Bo has found a fish along the bottom to chase at speed. Scooter is swimming around watching all this unfold. Bo and Scooter eventually come to the surface and I join up with them. I however make the mistake of swimming to Bo's left side. Now for the 20 odd years I've been swimming with dolphins I've always swum on their right sides. I always attach my camera to the left side of my mask so you can see them. As soon as I got right by Bo's side I knew I'd made a mistake. Perhaps even broken dolphin etiquette! Scooter is on the other side of Bo and comes hurtling over her and crashes into me!! They bolt! I feel dreadful and hope I haven't spooked Scooter and or pissed off Bo. I look up into Spy Hop and tell John what happened and ask where they went. He points them out and to my relief they act like nothing happened at all! Bo is still enjoying her T. Giving day dinner as she crater fishes along the bottom. Scooter is circling me and darting all around. A yellow tour boat comes up and respectfully slows down a good distance from us. Bo crater fishes as Scooter goes to look at the boat then circles me perhaps showing off. We are lucky not too many boats come by and all are respectful. After swimming with them for many hours (killed two scooters) we leave them. I'm looking forward to a nice meal at Ocean Club with terrific music by Quentin Dean!

Dolphin T day from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Happy T Day from Bo and Scooter

Hi All Banner Thanksgiving day! Had a long swim with Bo and Scooter and got in before the rain!! Bo seemed to want to hang around Leeward for a long time. Luckily, no boats came through for a good 45 mins. I had them all to myself! Scooter is more and more interested in where I am! If I get out, she comes to the boat as if wanting me back to play so, I get back in! After awhile too many tour boats came by. If they follow too closely it makes Bo and Scooter speed up. Eventually, they all left and we made our way up the coast. All was going well until I watched Bo look back then fly off with Scooter. YIKES!! I almost got run over by Beluga! We found them a little way off but the sky was seriously black and we opted to come in! Good move as it poured as we got to the dock! A Happy T Day to All

Happy T day from Bo and Scooter from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

SCOOTER

Hi All, I'm indebted to the yellow boats today! John looks behind us just as we are passing Leeward and notices two yellow boats stopped. We turn around to find JoJo in front of their boats. He wasn't putting on his usual JoJo show so I figure the remora is still hitching a ride and making him crazy. He comes right behind our boat for a ride toward Ocean Club. Once he branches off I slip and sure enough that remora is still there. If you look closely at the video you can see the marks where it attached itself to JoJo then moved to another spot. JoJo comes by to greet me but moves on not waiting. I really feel the remora is affecting his behavior (do you blame him!)John spots more dorsals and Bo and her young calf show up. I try to follow JoJo but he heads at speed in the opposite direction. Maybe Bo isn't so keen on her calf swimming where there is a remora attaching itself to dolphins. Just speculation on my part. We stay with them as they head up the coast toward Beaches and beyond. The calf is rocketing past me like a small torpedo. I think she's a female and the name Scooter seems to fit! She seems to like to whistle. She emits lots of bubble streams as she whips around. Both Bo and Scooter are totally cool with my being there. When I got out, Scooter came spy hoping and pointing her cute little rostrum out of the water right toward the boat! With an invitation like that I had to get back in! Various boats came by to see the new calf. Most were respectful and kept their distance. One however herded them then drove right over them. One hobie sailed right over them. Please if you are out on the water be respectful. Bo wants to show her calf off but not get her hurt!

JoJo and remora from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Scooter and Bo from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

JoJo vs Remora

Hi all, JoJo spent most of the day behind our boat. The remora is still attached to him. He appeared to be trying to get it off by spinning around in the air. He porpoised repeatedly but that remora stayed attached. It's been on him at least since Tues and probably before that. I think perhaps that's making him keep his distance when I've gotten in to swim with him. Hopefully he'll find away to rid of the remora tonight!

Lemon Lips!!!!

Hi All, Of course the day Dave has flown down to get video,it pours harder than I've ever seen it - all morning and into the afternoon. The swimming pool is starting to over flow! The good news is that when it finally stops the water on Grace Bay is flat. I hurry John and Dave out the door. I'm hoping to have Dave meet JoJo before he has to head home. People are always surprised at how far we go trying to find the dolphins. We motor down to Beaches and back to Leeward where John spots JoJo. I try getting in but JoJo keeps his distance. I explained to Dave how sometimes when he's meeting another dolphin he is aloof and ignores my attempts to swim with him or give him a ride behind Spy Hop. We decide to leave him and go up to the end of Pine Cay with hopes of meeting up with Bo and ______to be determined! Even with the calm water and clearing skies, we don't see a single dolphin. As we returned to Leeward, two dolphins erupt out of the water! I scurry around putting on flippers, mask and camera. Dave is filming all the activity in the boat as well as the dolphins! I slip in and JoJo comes right up. You will recognize him with the remora attached to him. The other dolphin and JoJo are very excited swimming all over and rubbing against each other. The other dolphin comes up to me and I see it's Lemon Lips! If you look hard at the right side of his fluke you can see it's ragged. John can see from the boat that his dorsal falls sightly over to the side.That is his other distinguishing mark. JoJo puts his melon right under Lemon Lips fluke, getting a sort of head rub! They are rambunctious enough that I back away so as not to get in their way. Two seven foot dolphins frolicking around is impressive and a bit intimidating! Lemon Lips swims by me and I can see him looking at me while whistling his signature whistle. He then swims under me and looks right up at me. He's so handsome. Lemon Lips is Bo's calf born in 2012. I'm so lucky that he not only remembers me but gets excited to see me when we meet a few times a year. I was worried about JoJo after I saw him the other day. I even said to John that I'd feel much better if I saw JoJo behaving with more energy. NO problem here! He was full of energy and having a great time playing with Lemon Lips. Dave got to see a dolphin meeting and even though it was only from the boat, its still a treat! I decided to publish without music this time. If you listen carefully, you can hear JoJo and Lemon Lips whistling!

Lemon Lip and JoJo 11-18 from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Bo's New Calf

Hi All, We had a successful dolphin day! This time when we found Bo and her new calf my camera worked that was the good news! The bad news was the water was very murky! Bo's new calf that will have a name as soon as I figure the sex. Today the calf was much more interactive. He was flying all around. Lots of darting off and darting back. Circling me at speed. He or she almost swam into me a few times. This would not be the first time a calf ran into me! It's sort of like having a torpedo whizzing around you. JoJo was around and the calf visited him. Strangely enough he and Bo didn't swim together. At the end of the video JoJo comes by me. You will see he has more scrapes from boats I imagine. There is also a remora attached under his belly. We left them early because I'm in the process of creating a video which will be my protest of captive dolphins. We were meeting Dave who has helped me with all my videos.

Bo's new Calf 11-18 from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

First trip

Hi All, For the first time since Feb we are out on the water. The weather is not great with lots of wind and scattered showers. As always there are those equipment glitches!! Flat tire, camera malfunction to name a few. We motor up and down the coast dodging showers. On our last pass I see two dorsals!!! That's when I realized the camera had somehow frozen up! None the less I got in to meet a beautiful little calf with BO. I got to swim with them a few times. JoJo came around the second time and came by to greet me. Bo seemed to want me to meet her new calf and the calf took a look at me. I hope to get lots of video when my camera is in working order!!! I will be able to sex the calf once we get better acquainted. Even though I've been swimming with JoJo for 21 years I'm always grateful and a little amazed that I can get off the plane after months away, head out on Spy Hop, find my friends and carry on our friendship like I hadn't missed a day!