Dusty is a sentient being. Everything she does relates to something. That isn't always clear to us, because she lives in very different physical circumstances from our own. This should be kept in mind at all times when trying to understand her, instead of ascribing apparently unrelated behaviour to random animalisms.
Like I mentioned in part two of 'Janimal', it often happens that an encounter with the dolphin is simply too much to take and only later in the day, or sometimes even days later, one comes to understand what went on. Then it doesn't really matter what is 'actually' true as long as you can harmonise this with your understanding and thereby open up to the healing effect that may result from its consequences. After all, us regular folks are not bound by science protocol and entitled to our own take of events.
In comparison with the accessibility of White Strand, Pollenawatch is less attractive for swimmers. Also Dusty's territorial behaviour put off a lot of swimmers. On top of that, on the rare good weather days Dusty would be taken away by motorised maniacs. So she looked for human interest elsewhere and found plenty among the tourists in Doolin.
So when we arrived at P'watch I was very happy to see her swimming there with Belgian Hans. Jane had just come out and told me that earlier there had been speedboats that had taken Dusty away. Shortly after, Hans came out and Dusty disappeared.
After about an hour and a half I began throwing stones at the mushroom-shaped P'watch rock that had only just washed over. The hits strike a sound that fans out under water and this has often proved to let Dusty know of my presence. As this was to no effect, I began whistling my Dusty-specific repertoire and that she must have recognised, as within five minutes she appeared. Hardly had she arrived when she began a display of terrifying ferocity, like you can see on the photos in Dolphin Address nr. 9. Then she changed her behaviour into enchanting and elegant power jumps and finally she lay very still just right in front of Joy (photo homepage Dolphin Address nr. 9), who was photographing her a bit further on.
So what can have induced her to display and change this behaviour? Of course I do not know for sure, but I can try and think from her mind.
Like I mentioned before, Dusty is a sentient being and from my experience she does everything for a reason, her reason. She hadn't seen me in the water for quite some time and recognised my presence, after the stones hitting the P'rock, by my whistle-medley. But when she approached the Sperm Whale rock, on which I stood, she was very disappointed that I wasn't in the water. And she lashed out her wrath on the water. It is plausible that, although she was angry I wasn't in the water, at the same time she was also happy to see me, which changed her mood into a display of beauty. Us, humans, know the same contradiction of emotions, worry when your beloved doesn't meet an appointment and anger and happiness when he or she finally appears. The dolphin may have very different rational standards, but her emotional perspective is not so different from ours. Maybe that is why we feel her (dolphin) address (!).
photo Joy Orpen
Then, appeased, she turned to Joy, in whom she had shown great interest earlier, waiting for her to come into the water. Like now, she lay there as if waiting again. Now I feel like stretching my imagination a bit into supposing she may also have shown this great interest in Joy, and none whatsoever anymore in me, to give me a tinge of jealousy. After a few minutes of lying near-perfectly still, less than three metres from Joy, she left without turning back to me.
photo Joy Orpen
So this is my explanation and there will surely be folks out there who will shout that I'm anthropomorphising the dolphin. But departing from the fact that she thinks and feels, there is bound to be an underlying motivation for her behaviour. And this is the best I can think of so far.