7. Dolphin Swim Part Three

Back on shore, I met Jessica, the trainer who was assigned to me, a tanned, attractive, friendly young woman who had been working with dolphins for several years. I followed her around to the platform from which we'd be working. As she stepped onto the platform with her bucket of fish, a silvery rostrum followed by sleek sides broke the surface of the natural lagoon. "Oh look, there's Nicky", Jessica said.

Nicky was 'my' dolphin for the next hour, a pink belly dolphin with freckles on her rostrum and according to Jessica and the rest of the staff, the "second-in-command diva", who was known for making her preferences quite clear. At about one-fifth of her weight, I was pretty willing to defer to her. This was her world and I was clear I was just a guest.

Jessica asked Nicky through hand signals to swim close to the platform, so that I could touch her and we could get used to each other. Jessica told me that the dolphins often get bored, and so she liked to vary the interactions and the tricks as much as she could.

First trick! Jessica asked me to swim out from the platform and cup my hands underneath my face. That was Nicky's cue to swim toward me and give me a 'kiss'. I have to admit that I was a little nervous, watching a 600 pound mammal zip toward me in the water at what looked like top speed. Amazingly, Nicky put on the brakes, and gently touched her nose to mine. Her rostrum felt warm and cold all at the same time, and felt the way that a leather chair might feel if you ran water over it. After this exercise, I realized that Nicky wasn't just running through her tricks, she was somehow taking my ability in the water into account.
We did a series of exercises that were all loads of fun. For one I floated on my back in the water, made sure my toes weren't pointed, and Nicky pushed me around the cove. For another, she brought a hula hoop for me and I held it to the side while she jumped through. We also did a 'handshake', where I hung vertically in the water with my hands about shoulder width, the way you'd look if you were describing how big a fish is, and Nicky zoomed toward me underwater. Suddenly, there she was, her flippers outstretched like hands reaching for my own, and we were face to face. In this position, I could see both her eyes at one time, and I could feel her long body brushing against mine, tail near my feet. What struck me then was the absolute intelligence in her eyes and power in those muscles.

I ended the afternoon just as pumped up as I could be--I felt like a little kid! It was an amazing experience, and I was very glad that I had taken the time to swim with the dolphins. And of course, I ended up buying the CD of photographs that the photographer took while Nicky and I were swimming. I wasn't going to, initially, but once I looked through them I went for it. I guess you could say I took the bait:-)