Lemon Lips makes another visit

Hi All, JoJo made quite a hit with all the tour boats Xmas day. He went in everyone's wake. He really was hoping to swim with people on hydrofoils. It seems a lot of boats have them. I suppose I may have to get one, too. My old hang onto the anchor as the boat pulls me along just isn't as fun for JoJo as someone going all over as the hydrofoil is made to do. Seeing he wasn't really interested in staying in our boring wake, we went off to look for Bo and Scooter. As we motor past, Pine Cay and in front of Dellis Cay I see two, better yet three dorsals. We approach and they start heading toward us. I put on my wetsuit and get in the clear water. I am hoping my brandy new camera that our friend Tricia brought down is working. I see Lemon Lips swimming with Bo and Scooter. He and Bo are so affectionate. Bo is snuggling, stroking and playing flipper footsie. As she swims upside down by Lemon Lips, I get a chance to see her cut that looks like it is healing well. Scooter is all over, between them, back to visit me and snuggling with his big brother. Scooter starts whistling short, high pitched whistles that sound somewhat like a bird. When he drops back whistling the others turn to watch. (be sure to turn upp your volumne to hear this!)

Bo Scooter and Lemon Lips from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Lemon Lips has really grown a lot. He is about seven years old now. You can see his distinguishing fluke with the slit on the right side. He seems to want to swim with me. We swim off, side by side. You might not want your kids to see the end of this clip! He displays and it's impressive.

Lemon Lips X rated from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

We go back to the others. Male dolphins can get aggressive with female swimmers but he, as always, is a gentleman. Tour boats are starting to come by and Scooter sees this as an opportunity to show off. She darts all around them surfacing, tail slapping and spy hoping. They are now in the channel where the current is really strong. I think they were hoping to find fish but there doesn't seem to be any around. The wind is supposed to get kick up for the next few days and I am about to make a short trip home. How lucky am I to see them today!

JoJo visits Scooter and Bo

Hi All, I'm not really sure how long JoJo was visiting Bo and Scooter. When we saw first saw them he was there. When I got in he was with swimming right with them for a short time. I would have gotten this on camera but I had two cameras refuse to work yesterday! The good news is that we david our new camera man out on the boat and he got footage of Scooter and me. Scooter put on a great show for him as you will see:)

awkward! dolphin human collision!

Scooter the cutest calf!

what fun!

off we go

David's great video of scooter and me swimming all around!

Dolphins Give me a Xmas Present

Hi All, I have been wondering and hoping that my friend Lemon Lips, who is a male calf born to Bo in 2012 would show up to meet his sister Scooter. Yesterday we were looking around past Pine Cay and along came three dorsals through the murky water. I excitedly climbed into my wetsuit and slipped in. My #@&*camera refused to turn on, not that you could have seen a darn thing at that point! I could barely figure out where they were much less who they were unless I looked above the water for dorsals. As soon as I found them, I saw Lemon Lips's fluke and knew it was him! He was darting all over with Scooter! They were having such fun! There were a few exciting moments when I couldnt see them until they nearly ran into me! Lemon Lips is HUGE, strong and handsome! I also noticed that Bo actually has a long gash under her chin. I would say fairly deep and about three inches long. I hope it isnt making it really uncomfortable to crater fish. After playing around in the deep murky water all three of the dolphins and I moved over to a sand bar where the water is only about two feet deep, perhaps less. Lemon Lips starts racing around like a mad man! All I could see were dorsals going everywhere so fast occasionally coming REALLY close - whoosh. I didn't really think they would want to swim in such shallow water unless fishing but there weren't any fish that I could see. Lemon Lips now and again would come by and look at me close up. My heart was pounding with glee! He and I started to swim in very tight circles in the shallow water around and around we went! I was trying not to get my scooter stuck in the sand it was that shallow! Now usually, he swims in circles under me but with it so shallow we were flying around this tight circle on the surface. It did occur to me as we whirled around that he was really big really strong and thankfully really friendly!!! Now I have had some amazing swims with dolphins but this was my all time favorite encounter!

These are all pics of Lemon Lips the fluke shows his distinguishing slit

Please stay in Longer!

Hi All, First, to catch up on JoJo. He's been taking rides for short distances between the cuts in the reef. He is very distraught with the remora. He tail slaps and does cork screw leaps out of the wake. Mark, the island vet, says the remora isn't doing any harm to JoJo it's just a nuisance. This morning we aren't finding JoJo so we go up to Pine Cay with hopes of finding Bo and Scooter. It's blowing pretty hard today making the water really murky. I admit to sleeping most of the trip due to a bit of partying the night before! I am wide awake however as we get to Pine Cay and think I see a dorsal in the distance. I see not one but two! As always, they are happy to have me swim with them even though I can't see a darn thing! I do notice when swimming right beside Bo that she has two lumps with jagged edges under her rostrum. I'm wondering if someone bit her? Maybe she got cut while crater fishing? I'm hoping the salt water will help repair them. The wind is really howling making for wavy water, murky but, worse for me IT'S COLD when I get out! Scooter and Bo stay with our boat for over four hours. I did a short video of them trying to entice me back in the water:)

Please come back in from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Huge Pod of Spotted Dolphins

Hi All, We invited David to come along with us. He hasn't seen Scooter yet and I'm hoping today will be the day. The water today is flat and smooth even past the reef. We see JoJo briefly but decide today is a great day to go to North West Point which is a long way and only doable if the water is flat. We see absolutely nothing on the way there. We see one turtle as we head back with the plan of going to the cut by Pine Cay. We are all straining to see anything even a bait ball or a flying fish. And then - dorsals are heading our way!!!! Spotted Dolphins and not just a few but a lot. They were hard to count and were every where we looked. We estimated 75 - 100! They stayed with us for hours. We swam with them, John spun the boat in circles creating waves which they surfed and then we swam again. They sort of ambled off slowly as if to say if you guys want to play more we are up for it but they pooped us out! Once we got inside the reef we saw JoJo, who wanted a ride. We took him where he wanted and then we headed home!

Huge Pod of Spotted Dolphins from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Scooter is Working on new skills

Hi All, I'm sitting on my porch where I have my desk away from home. I hear a tap tap tapping on the palm tree right in front of me. I see a woodpecker working his way down the tree tapping away. I haven't seen a woodpecker in the Caribbean before but apparently they are here too. I take this to be an excellent sign that we will have a good day! We find JoJo just leaving the "Big Blue" catamaran, White Sands. We motor past JoJo and he gets in behind our boat. We take him to Leeward where he branches off going toward the reef. I slip in and see the remora is still fastened to his peduncle. There are numerous marks where the little rascal has unhitched and hitched. As he crosses over the reef and into the deep blue, we lose sight of JoJo. We decide to continue North up the coast outside the reef. I'm searching the calm, dark blue water for dorsals. None to be found. Once we get to Pine Cay, we turn in through the cut in the reef. Almost immediately, I see two dorsals. They have heard our boat and are speeding our way! How cool is that to see your dolphin friends hurrying over to greet you! I get in and Scooter swims all around me in circles clearly happy to see me! She takes minute to nurse from her ever so patient Mom ,Bo.

Scooter Nurses from her patient Mom BO from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Scooter then starts working on her spy hopping skills as she pokes her head out of the water then falls over backward. Just like her brother Whizzer, she's so playful. If I lag behind she comes back to circle me. During this play time, one of the "Wake-to-Wake" boats joins us. They launch their drone and video the action from above. Hopefully, I'll get to see their aerial video. We come upon a barracuda, perhaps the same one I saw the other day right here. Bo watches intently as Scooter goes to investigate. It's so interesting watching how Bo teaches her calf about the other creatures in the ocean. I got footage of the barracuda but ran out of time to publish! I was in with the dolphins for many hours and the sun was setting. Time to go home and hope my camera worked! John spent many hours working on it because the whole thing froze up!

Scooter working on Spy Hop skills from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

This is cool as always JoJo is the star!

Hi All, I'm sitting at OC trying to get my cameras to work! I dont use a go Pro I tried but they didnt work for me! However mark from Wake to Wake does! He and JoJo are famous! Look at this! JoJo maybe getting older but he still loves to play! https://lovinturksandcaicos.com/news/turks-and-caicos/the-tcis-very-own-wake-2-wake-have-been-featured-in-the-gopro-million-dollar-challenge?fbclid=IwAR0WdjBs3U7ftnLPbCiHcYMKM5gWX-aEthq--bB813-3xVQpUKbfiN2Jbi8 Hope he wins the challenge! Good Luck Mark!

Welcome Home

Hi All, I went for a short trip to visit my daughter in Arizona. We are now coming out of Leeward on the search. Is that a dolphin I see coming straight for our boat? JoJo is coming right up. He must have missed his Uber rides for the past few days!! We start his itinerary of traveling up and down the coast. He branches off at the cuts through the reef, I presume looking for friends. I'm hoping he'll take us to Pine Cay where we seem to meet up with other dolphins the most. On our second pass by Leeward he keeps going to Pine Cay. The water is quite choppy with strong winds out of the Southeast. He branches off as we get opposite the Meridian Club. We wait watching diligently to see if there are any other dorsals. Three head toward us through the waves. One is small. Yay Scooter, Bo and JoJo are all coming right to the boat! I'm scrambling to get on my flippers and mask with camera. As I sink into the murky water, John drops the water scooter in beside me. Scooter and Bo are happy to see me. I am having a hard time with murky water figuring out where they are. I can hear lots of whistling as they circle around me. John said he could see me following Scooter and Bo following me. Every now and again, I could see JoJo come by. They travel out toward the reef where the water is much clearer. Now, I can see them clearly. Scooter in usual calf manner, is darting all over. Bo leaves for a while and Scooter and I are left to play. I twirl around in circles as she zooms around me. Scooter now seems to like traveling right beside me at times. Bo returns and JoJo comes by. I can now see his persistent remora is still clinging to his peduncle. As soon as JoJo comes by me, Bo takes off in the opposite direction. Scooter swims with JoJo. Soon JoJo leaves again and Bo returns. JoJo has gone off to entertain a catamaran sail boat. Bo and Scooter head over to check it out. I notice the people in the boat are all putting on gear to get in the water. Bo and Scooter are looking intently toward the boat. I'm wondering if I'm going to lose them if the swimmers get in. No problem, the dolphins just swim far enough away so they aren't quite with them. John goes over and picks up a father and daughter. They desperately want to see the dolphins. He puts them in right near us and they get a few minutes to see Scooter and Bo who a very quick drive-by. Scooter is whistling and looking at them! We move off. They are overjoyed at the chance to see a calf and mom in the wild. I'm seriously cold and pooped as I wear out my second water scooter. They are moving off. Time to head home.

JoJo, Bo and Scooter!!!!

Hi All, It's a grand TCI day. The water's flat, the sun's shinning brightly on the turquoise water and I am getting in with JoJo and the remora. He dives to the bottom and tries to roll that little hitch hiker off. The remora just unhitches and waits around to clamp on again. I see our friends from Wake to Wake have motored up. They have water skiers hoping to get a glimpse of the famous JoJo. I start to get out of the water thinking JoJo may go visit them and John points into the water in the opposite direction. Bo and Scooter are on their way over! JoJo goes off with Wake to Wake and Bo and Scooter stay with us. Bo, Scooter and I head toward Beaches where the water is amazingly clear. There are times Bo looks at me as Scooter bombs all around. She clicks at me. I wonder what she's saying maybe, "its not easy being a dolphin mom" or "how patient am I". I pretty much got to swim with them from before Grace Point to Smith Reef and back. For those of you haven't looked at the map on my website it's a really long way!! I wore out three scooters and my camera (to say nothing of me!)Bo actually brought Scooter and me in a huge circle ending back where we started. I'm sitting in the boat watching Scooter whiz around. She comes to the boat repeatedly - dolphin for "please get back in"! There's lots of great activity, spy hoping, porpoising, attempt at tail walking. I see another dorsal heading our way. JoJo is back!! I have to get in pooped or not. He comes right over with Scooter (and the remora). I get to swim with both of them (or all three depending on how you look at it). How I love these dolphins! Bo is off I presume fishing. She still doesn't want to swim near JoJo. I'm not quite sure what's wrong there but he sure is great with her calves.

JoJo tries to rub off Remora from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Bo clicking at me from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

Nutty Scooter from Jay Sargent on Vimeo.

JoJo has Tryst I think!

Hi All, Unfortunately I'm not clever enough show you the GPS route! However, it was pretty much the same scenario except! JoJo wanted to go to the end of Pine Cay where he branched off. John needed to cool off with quick dip and we took the opportunity to eat lunch. I was keeping an eye on JoJo's where abouts as we munched. As we started to pack up, I lost sight of him. He's sneaky like that! We got a call from a friend of ours who had her guests out at the end of Fort George Cay. She saw what she thought were three dolphins fighting. When we got there, it appeared to be JoJo and one other. I think the other dolphin was a female! She was small and had a very wiggley dorsal. John named her Trixi:) I think they were having a little hanky panky. I got in the water but it was so murky, I couldn't tell for sure what was going on. Whether its fighting or mating it usually comes with a lot of activity! After all the excitement, JoJo headed back toward Grace Bay and she headed out the channel between Fort George Cay and Dellis Cay. We followed. I always thought Lemon Lips came from the South side when he comes to visit. I'm dying to know more about who lives out there! It is however very shallow with tricky boating. We followed her a long way luckily without running aground! She headed in the direction where I saw Lemon Lips years ago! She however went over a fairly shallow sand bar and we couldn't follow.

A day being JoJo's Uber Drivers

Without telling you where we took JoJo. I'm giving the gps route that our friend David turned on when JoJo came to meet our boat. This is where he wanted us to take him!!! https://youtu.be/6M3PloEiyYQ