SWIMMING
WITH DOLPHINS near Panama City Beach, Florida!
Summer of 1997 I took our SeaDoo
GTS down to the Gulf of Mexico at Panama City, Florida several times to
go out and look for the dolphins that frequent the area. One time
I decided to go out with a paid group for a snorkeling excursion
with the Panama City Dive Shop. These photographs are
of that excursion. We found a pod of "semi-wild" dolphins ("free"
but comfortable with the tourists) just outside the shipping channel on
the east side behind the jetty. The first picture shows the sighting
of the group. The second is a lone dolphin as we approach. We hopped
out and swam close to the boat to see if they would come up in curiosity
and they did. We were elated. They were very friendly. We all swam
around together for some 30 minutes. They'd come up and "eyeball" us and
make "clicking" sounds.
(speaking of clicking, clicking
each of these thumbnails will bring up a full screen picture that really
shows the feeling of the situation.)
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After an hour or so of warmup snorkling
in the bay we drive through the channel to an area where this dolphin pod
frequents. With great excitement everyone geared up and hopped into
the water as the dolphins came up to visit with us. The lady divemaster
was good friends with these dolphins and the came right up to great her
and make friends with the rest of us.
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The one in close up came and hovered
near me. I submerged and we eyed each other and I think he wanted to "drag
race" because he kinda "nodded" to me like "come-on! bet ya can't catch
me!" and SWISH! he was gone in a couple of kicks. I started at the
same time but just ate algae dust. He came right back and kinda "laughed"
by nodding and such. Then he came up real close to me. I held my
hand out to sort of keep away from him some but he kinda rubbed my hand
like our friendly Dalmatian back home. It was a wonderful feeling
of closeness and joy. On some signal or thought they group suddenly
flipped their tails and took off for some other adventure. We looked
up realized we'd lost all thought of the boat and swam back elated to tell
each other our individual stories and feelings. Dolphins are certainly
intelligent beings. Their brains are proportionately as large as ours and
may be superior in many ways. Dolphins live peacefully with each
other and their neighbors for the most part. The last photo shows the boat...somewhere
over there...since we'd lost interest in it by enjoying the dolphins so
much. Fortunately staff on the boat kept careful eyes out not to
loose any of us. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS WONDER EXPERIENCE to any
and everyone willing to jump into the waves of the Gulf of Mexico to have
a great time.
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Well much to my chagrin Elle McPherson
was not diving with us, but it looks likes dolphins like her as much as
I do. She's a sweet and lovely person. Look at this one
hamming it up for a hug.
You
might enjoy the Virtual Dolphin Project designed for kids with life-threatening
illnesses. This is located in California, but they are working on
a traveling exhibit. I've volunteered some time to help them with
design for a permanent facility there and with help for their dome.
It's a very worthwhile project and you might want to consider a small donation
at some time.
Visit
the Dolphins@ Gulfworld in Panama City, FL.
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to Wesley & Associates, Architects
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