Dolphins - Porpoiseless Wanderers

Dolphins!

A playful sea-clown to some, a regrettable tattoo decision to others, but a subject of fascination and wonder for most.

Since taking to the water, I have been staggered by the sheer volume of dolphins you run into while out on a voyage.

From the Channel to the Med, there are simply millions of the buggers! And my word are they social!

The first time we happened across a pod of our cetacean chums, it was a still, chilly night drifting down the outer reaches of the Channel on our way to Brest.

The air was crisp and silent and we were all up on deck enjoying the evening air.

I had perched myself by the edge of the cockpit and was gazing out upon the twinkling lights of the distant tankers on the horizon as they trailed their way to and from the shipping lanes when suddenly, a darting figure caught my eye in the water.

A trail of bubbles, incandescent in the moonlight shot towards the boat and disappeared beneath it as we bobbed slowly onwards.

I damn near toppled back into the cockpit, being the jumpy sod that I was and whipped out a torch to get a better look at whatever lovecraftian horror was assumedly prepared to strike at us from beneath the jet-black waters.

I peered from the aft into those abyssal depths and watched, mesmerised at my eyes resolved the still waters to reveal more bubbles, seemingly given a luminous glow by lunar light, trailing from beneath our hull.

Then a splash.

Then a few more.

Then, I saw one, bob up from below as it spiralled around and cut in front of our snail-paced track, whizzing back below the waters and into obscurity once more.

From that moment, I was smitten with our nautical neighbors and nary a day has gone by at sea when we haven't run into at least a few.

From near Brest, we've been visited at anchor in the Baie de Douarneznez, then every day of our crossing of Biscay pods would pop by and play around us, spy-hopping and breaching alongside to get a good view.

I even popped down onto the swim platform to get a closer look and was blessed with a personal visit from a particularly curious couple who surfaced within arms-reach and watched as I cooed and crooned over them like a small child.

Every visit has been just as memorable to me as the first as I watch, rapt with glee as our piscine pals jump and play around us.

It has also been an extraordinary learning experience.

With little else to watch, you really get a feel for the personalities of the individuals, their dynamics and their relationships.

From the moody, more dominant individuals, who slap the water angrily as you draw the attention of their pod-mates, to the spy-hopping socialites who keep pace and frolick gleefully alongside as you pass through their watery abode.

Past the Strait of Gibraltar, we got to see a line of what must have been hundreds, hopping and swirling their way Southwards to the coast of Africa and in the Med, bottlenoses plunged from turbulant wave to turbulant wave before us as we surfed the stiff seas to Tunisia.

On one occasion, upon finishing shift and setting down to rest, I even got sung to sleep by a pod from below as they clicked and squeaked around us, their calls resonating through the steel of our hull and reverberating throughout the saloon.

Since first meeting them, I have done a a fair amount of reading about them and the more I read, the more enchanted I become.

For example, they have bigger brains than us, with a complex neocortex, the centre of the brain associated with self-awareness and problem-solving.

They establish complex social relationships with others, even having some limited cultural exchange with humans.

One such example is the shared game they have been noted to play with people, dubbed "Seaweed Keep Away" (I can't find the original article speaking about the game in particular, but some info can be found here and there are a fair few videos on YouTube of people playing similar games with dolphins).

Due to their curious and social nature though, this can and does come with a negative side.

It has been noted (See link above) that dolphins can exhibit "misdirected sexual behaviour" towards humans and have aggressive encounters with people, as you would expect from any wild animal (Or non-wild animal, or human for that matter) so probably best to air on the cautious side in interactions with them.

A healthy distance is always recommended.

Overall, dolphins (and their larger, although, oddly less fatal counterparts: Orcas) are a subject of deep fascination to me being complex, intelligent, curious and very 'human'.

They have good sides and bad sides, they communicate, play, watch and interact and as time goes on, maybe our understanding will breed a stronger bond and a deeper understanding of one-another.

If, like me, despite the concerns, you find yourself too smitten with these majestic creatures to stay away and want to get closer to nature, be sure to be safe (Remember, despite the fascination, you may well be jumping in with a 3 meter long, brick-shithouse of a randy bugger).

If you really want to swim with dolphins, there are plenty of places to do so legally (And more importantly, safely) and plenty to learn that can make the interactions all the more magical (and preferably, a lot less likely to turn unexpectedly amorous or hostile).

For the moment though, a good way to start is to just get out on the ocean and observe them in their natural splendour from the relative safety and (arguably) drier perch aboard the deck.

You'd be surprised how quickly you can start to pick up the dolphin lingo.

Aside from that, there are videos and articles documenting dolphin communication and body language that may be helpful for better understanding your new finned friends.

Just remember:

When drifting on the deep you spy,

A pod of dolphins prancing by,

You may be master up on helm,

But on all sides there lies their realm,

For deep below you play and swim,

By their compassion, at their whim,

But if down there relations break,

Your mirth may mark your last mistake

(Ok, it's not amazing... But you get the message, be wary around wild animals)