Dolphin Address 23
October 3, 2004
It was the kind of day that everybody was congratulating each other on the wonderful weather. The sky was crisp with sunshine and the wind was resting in silence. A cow was mowing and the echo spread over the slopes of Mount Moreen. Crows were croaking like dead branches being trodden on.
After a fortnight of Nature unleashing her wrath, morosely supported by the weather forecast on the tube it feels like we had this celestial break coming. In other words: 'Dolphin Day!'
Down the trip track we met some glowing people with promising faces: 'Oh yes, she's down there, all right!'
The water had the clarity of diluted limestone and the wind kept the waves to a ripple. Some more people left and Ute went out of the water. I saw Dusty's dorsal fin cutting away on a minute swim time. For her.
We slid in from the bath tub chute and I banged my sound signature on the Pollenawatch head. The farther out you go, the more you get into her sonar range.
We were warned about the purple jellyfish. They were supposed to give off a kind of electric shock followed by a burning pain. Initially I felt very uncomfortable in the water as they swam in abundance. They seemed unavoidable and certain to contact once the dolphin would entice my attention. From a floral perspective they were, however, pulchritudinous. Indeed my worries faded when the familiar elegance of the Silver Lady graced upon us.
Though in all of my 12 dolphin years I mostly joined them alone I did of, course, have human companions on several occasions. Nearly without exception the dolphin would come to me on the side that was away from my partner. With Verena this has been different almost any time. Dusty goes directly to her at least as often as she comes to me. When she is with her I limit myself to observation and vice versa. In this particular swim I had the distinct feeling she was knitting us together. No jealousy as mentioned as a source of aggression towards the partner of a regular swimmer by
www.irishdolphins.com. It gave me a warm and wonderful feeling to see how she was harmonizing between the two of us.
Last year Verena stood on the Pool rock when I swam towards her with Dusty. Then she laid her beak at Verena's feet and we felt a very family feeling, alone together.
Verena got a slash from a jellyfish on her lip, awkward, but bearable. I got none at all. Considering the number of these little horrors a major act of savoring by the dolphin.
Jan Ploeg, Killohill, October 8th 2004
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