Dolphin gang

it´s about 12h30. Chacha is here with me. The dolphins come from the north. We catch up with them easily. As soon as we are out there they turn towards us. They are five. There is the finless dolphin among the group.

Charlotte goes in first. The group stops and welcomes her and then continues. They are actually going quite fast and it is physically hard for Charlotte to follow. Charlotte regains the kayak and we row now until we catch up with the group. They swim with us, following underneath the kayak. We move forward a bit, then I slide into the water.

I know this group. There is a curious female that swims a long stretch next to me, looking at me from her dark eye. The group takes me in. They go slow enough for me to follow. We swim right, left, then under water, always extremely close. It is amazing.

Charlotte is next. It is amazing to see her swim right in the middle of the pod.
We move down a long stretch of the coast. I see one of the dolphins playing with a plastic bag, which he has on top of his snout.

When it is my turn we have reached our "final" bay. There is a fishing boat anchored there. Now one after the other of the dolphins scrubs along the chain, to scratch their back. It is an amazing sight. I think my camera´s batteries are empty, so not sure there will be pictures.
We continue for a good stretch. Eventually they dive into the deep blue again to hunt. I follow, but midway one of the dolphins turns around and escorts me back to the surface.

After another couple of dips Cha and I decide to call it quits. The dolphins, who have continued their way realize that I´m gone. They turn around and come back to us - fetching me! I go in once more, a jetski zooms close by and the session is over.

Evening session

It seemed like there would be no dolphins today. It was another one of these extremely hot Red Sea summer days. There are no Egyptians in our compound. They all have left for "Sahel", the North coast, where the wealthy crowd has their second or third secondary home.
The water temperature is 33°C by now and it will get hotter. Who knows how hot it is in the sun.
Only by adopting a vegetative state can one survive. That´s what I do, I´m there under the umbrella drinking a beer and watching the sea and thinking about life.
The day goes by, and the sun starts to set when finally my friends arrive. Unfortunately I´m all alone now, nobody to join me on the kayak. I row out there and when I arrive I start to film their arrival.



Once under my kayak I loose my equilibrium and fall into the water. Splash, the dolphins, shocked, move 20m away.

Back on the kayak I row and catch up with them quickly. I go in again, pulling the kayak with a string. My foot gets caught, the kayak is heavy and slows me down. I decide to abandon it.

The dolphins are in great spirits tonight. They are very playful and stay around. The sound underwater is increadible. Sonar and whistling as long as the session lasts.

This is a different group from last weekend. I recognize last years dolphin with the dent in the jaw and, imagine, he recognized me. We start to swim together. I swim next to him, follow him, he swims slowly, we swim circles, he dives, I dive, then we continue for a long stretch.

There is a crazy young dolphin. He comes and goes, speeding, then zigzaging, then jumping.
From a distance I see one of the young ones sticking out his head vertically out of the water to see where I am.




There are between 20 - 30 dolphins here tonight. They are quite stretched out. The youth in front and the old guard following behind. Once my young friend has left I find myself with the huge adults. They are zen and move in slow and essential moves.

I lift my head, where the heck is the kayak. It´s still where I left it, far far away.

Time to go...

Dolphin mega pod

This is what it looks like when you swim right inside the pod

The light in the water changed, so many dolphins were around

Swimming while communicating with the others

The dolphins were just centimeters away

It's not even 10:00 a.m. I'm out in the sea with Leo watching fish and talking marine life when I see a big splash at the other side of our bay. Dolphins !

I quickly row back, take fins masks and Raffaella, my wife, drop Leo, and out we row again. By the time we are out there again in front of the coral reef, which is about 60-70m, the dolphins have arrived.

There are many of them. The small ones are in the front. They are playing with each other, tickling, jumping, swimming belly up. It's a joy to watch.
Then come different groups of adults. I guess there are at least thirty dolphins here today. They stretch out over 100m. What a sight !

We paddle alongside them. They watch us from below, following below us. There is a crazy one zigzagging infront of us.

Then I glide softly into the water. Soon I'm surrounded by the pod. There are so many that the water darkens. We start swimming together, I'm one with the pod. The sound of sonar is clearly audible for as long as we swim together. There are more dolphins behind me that must be studying this weird phenomena that I represent.
They communicate by whistling. One of them swims with his mouth open. Is he whistling?
We swim like this for a good stretch, me part of the pod as my forces slowly fade. Boy, it is hard to keep up...

Raffaella, who followed me, picks me up. We start paddling, Raffaella paddles really well with strong even strokes, and soon catch up with the pod.

She is thrilled by the spectacle but does not feel like going in. So I go in again.

This time I'm swimming with a young adult group. They are really cool. I start following one specific one, singling him out, he senses it and breaks out of the group, turns back to approach me from behind, but this time I follow him and we start to swim in circles. Now the others are joining in to the game and it gets quite exciting. This group has decided to stay with me while the rest of the mega pod has moved on.
I'm so out of breath that I can't even dive anymore, breathing in short strokes. I call it quits and mount back on the kayak.
Now we are in the far away bay, our usual turning point.
I go in once more. My tube is not well attached and I drink a bucket of water... Yah. That must be what drowning is like.

Let's call it a day. This was as good as it gets.

The sharks were black tips

After intensive research is all the FAO reference guides about marine live in the Red Sea my friend Lorenzo has concluded that we did not see grey reef sharks. The sharks look very much like black tip sharks.
These are actually not always fun to be with. I wonder if they would have eaten us if we had been in the water....

Chinese whites return !

Look who is here...

It's around 13:00h, I spot the dolphins from afar. There is no wind and the water surface is flat like a mirror.
This time Paul joins me. We row out there with slow and strong strokes.
As we get closer I tell Paul that these are not bottlenose dolphins, they do look like Chinese whites ! This is the fourth time ever to see them and it is the third time they are here in a pod. There are six individuals. The adults are not very interactive but a young one is.

It´s one of six Chinese White Dolphins

The look is distinctly different from the more common bottlenose dolphins

The tail fin looks kind of deformed

Here is a good view of his mouth and breathing hole

Paul dips in, I follow with the kayak. A young dolphin comes and swims circles, comes very close, really checking us out. Swimming a few circles around us and then swims off again.
Most of the time the dolphins are unseen, but their sonar and whistling is audible. Than out of the blue they appear again...

Paul follows a dolphin

It's a nice rare session that lasts a good half an hour.
-
14:00
We are eating ( of course)
More dolphins come from the north again. But these are bottlenose dolphins. There are about 6 big adults. They are hunting. We follow them with the kayak but there is no underwater encounter.

19:30
It´s getting dark. Wind has picked up and we actually have waves !
Aldo, my father in laws says he just saw dolphins pass. It is so dark, I hardly can see anything. But I row out anyway. The sea is mean and the waves high. It´s just the condition the Ralf would enjoy !

Last weeks pod

Dolphin Love 

Cuddle

2:30 p.m.
It´s wind still and very hot today. The sea is flat like a mirror. The kayak glides effortlessly over the surface. The tide is slowly coming in. Dolphins never appear during low tide.

So here the come from the north this time. It is a group of six adults, male and females. I paddle alongside them for 50 meters, the dolphins look at me from below, and then I glide in. The group stops for me, takes me in. The one with the scars on his tail is here and the big one with the spotted belly. Then I see the big one with the square jaw. These are the adults from last weeks pod. We know each other....

We swim side by side down the bay. It´s a beautiful harmonious swim that lasts about 15 minutes.

I had abandoned the kayak when I went into the water. It is now but a little orange dot far away.
With a jerk I pull myself away from my soul mates and swim slowly back to the kayak.

I can´t help but wonder if there are any sharks around.

No dolphins today

Not one dolphins on both sides of the horizon today.

Full beach

The pod

Today is really busy here on the beach. Paul, Stephane, Armelle, Pat, Florence, Stephan, and Nicola are here as well as Philippe whenever he can. It's an eating and drinking day. Chill out.

11:00 a.m.
The dolphins come up from the south. They are far out, hunting.
At the same time Flo and Pat together with his kids and his brother and friend arrive. I invite anyone to come, now! Immediately! After quick coordination Pat's brother Nicola drops the toolbox and runs to the kayak. We row out there.

The dolphins appear every 5 min or so, take a breath and then take the deep dive, back curved and the tail fin sticks well out of the water before it disappears.

They are swimming in a line, raking up the sea floor.

We follow them for a kilometer, but don't swim together.

12:30
Here they come again - it's the return. This time Pat joins me. We paddle out there, I give it all. Pat tries hard too. We follow the group. There are five adults and they are traveling fast. We can't catch up. We stay a steady 10m behind over a period of 20 min without decreasing the distance. We return exhausted.

2 p.m.
The rest of the pod appears on the horizon. Stephan, Nicola's friend, joins me.
He goes in first and meets up with the group. The group passes. He mounts the kayak, we row a little and then I go in.

This is yesterday's pod. The young one is all over and around me. The big ones swim around me. We do 150 m together and then they move on. When I look up I expect to see Stephan in the kayak next to me but he is not there. I turn around. Here they come, Stephan with Stephane in the boat. She has tried to meet up swimming all the way out here, missing them. So she took a hike.

Nice guy but in a hurry

We try a threesome in the kayak but it doesn't work. We are too heavy, take water and are unstable. Stephane exits, the boat tilts and I'm in the water as well. Splash !

Now we have 100m to catch up, I give it all and a while later we are with them again. The dolphins are back hunting and are not interested in us.

We leave them and row back.

All this rowing today is getting us in top shape and on top we have a killer sun tan. I wished I could do this very thing for work...

Deep dive

This is what it looks like from above ...

... and the view down there !

2 p.m.
We just had aweful pizza from nextdoors when Charlotte announces the dolphins - they are far, she adds. And they are ! So far are they it takes 15 min before I see them, and my eyes are not that bad. How does she do it ?

We have ample time to paddle out there. No stress no out of breath. We arrive out there relaxed.

We are now next to the pod of about twenty. The pod has all but stopped. They wait for us to go in. Chacha is first.

She dips in and with her childish fervor she wiggled inside this group. They have now created a complete circle around her. A young dolphin advances particularly close and engages with her. I'm always surprised to see how dolphins behave towards children. There is less of a barrier. Now Charlotte and the young one race each other in a circle, than he zigzags in front of her...

Now it is my turn. I'm relaxed and have all my breath. I join the pod and they take me in again. I don't recognize this group at first. Later I recognize in the tail injury a dolphin from one of the sessions with Ralf.
This group is cool right from the start. Although there are two younger dolphins in the group the rest seems to be made up of equal numbers of males and females. They are used to us and take us in with this intense curiosity that is so special in dolphins.

Again and again dolphins turn around and swim straight at us so that we see them in the face- which looks like a clowns face with a round nose and a big smile.

A big male shows special interest in me which I return to him. We swim together, follow each other for awhile. I swim in slow dolphin movements, using as little effort to save oxygene.
As I'm relaxed I have so much more breath that it allows me to stay with them for a minute or two at a time. I see the dolphins are not used to humans down there, they are visibly surprised.

The it's Charlotte's turn again.
We are now slowly moving down the coast with the pod. She swims like a dolphin herself and I'm full of joy watching this. Then the dolphins dive down and her session is over. They have started hunting again.

They move along the ground slowly in a long line looking I don't know for what.

When it is my turn we are further away from the beach. You can't see the ground, only a deep blue. This time I follow the dolphins in their dive down. With my weight belt I have already neutral buoyancy in one meter depth. The deeper I go the faster I drop. The water pressure hurts my ears, I need to depressurize. I guess I´m at minus 8m.
The dolphins are surprised, two of them turn around and escort me back to the surface and disappear again in the deep. Wow. Was that an accident?
I do it again and the same happens... They look after me! They must know my limitations.
I'm swimming back up to the surface which is way way up above me. It seems an eternity and I feel the pain in my lungs. Finally the surface and air !

It is nice down there..

We follow the pod to the limit of where we usually go and then let them move on. This was a beautiful session that lasted over an hour ! We are full of thrilled.

PS: My camera didn´t work, batteries already empty ! Charlotte took these pictures.

Saturday

Hot, sea like a mirror, seems like there's no tide today. There is a couple of blue spotted rays here in the bay but not one dolphin.

The fishermen enjoy post revolutionary anarchy and put their 400 m net right infront of the corals of the hotel. Ai!

Friday

He seems to be flying, I´m down there holding my breath

11:45
The dolphin pod passes. They are further out there, where the crest is and the shallow water drops into the dark blue.

This is a serious gathering, here are at least 20 individuals travelling south. We meet, move together, then they dive and disappear for a long while. I continue slowly. After awhile they reappear, right beside me. We move another 100m together when they dive again.

Here goes the gang

As they are hunting I decide to stay on the kayak. It is unwise to distract them while eating. They will be more playful with their belly full.
-
2 p.m.
I'm just moving the first fork of pasta salad to my mouth when they arrive. Its windstill and the water surface is flat. Quickly I approach and stop some distance away, putting on my weight belt and the fins.
The dolphins have all stopped, they have seen the kayak, and now they swim towards me.

I glide softly into the water. This is the kiddy group. They are curious and relaxed now. I guess they have eaten. My presence is welcome. We swim for a long time, when I decide that it is time to return to the kayak which has turned into a little orange dot on the sea.

A smile on their face

They came again and again to check me out

Hey, don´t look !

The whole group moves

One of the curious young ones

Bye, everyone ! I have swam about 50 m when suddenly I hear sonar ! And a second later I'm surrounded by at least 10 immense adult dolphins. They are huge ! These guys are usually hunting out in the open. Some show their age. These are tough fighters. Their movements are slow and essential. They make the best use of their breath. They take me in and one of them "adopts" me. We stay so close together, he is just centimeters away. So instead of returning to the kayak I'm off for another phantastic voyage.

With the big guys

I let them eventually go...  This likes more like a painting

But finally i really have to turn around. While I slowly swim back, which takes half of eternity, I contemplate yesterdays sharks that must be somewhere out in the blue...

I get back safely...

From Wikipedia: Grey Reef Shark

From Wikipedia

The grey reef shark^[2] is a species of requiem shark. One of the most common reef sharks in the Indo-Pacific, it is found as far west as South Africa. This species is most often seen in shallow water near the drop-offs of coral reefs. The grey reef shark has the typical "reef shark" shape, with a broad, round snout and large eyes. This species can be distinguished from similar species by the plain or white-tipped first dorsal fin, the dark tips on the other fins, the broad black rear margin on the tail fin, and the lack of a ridge between the dorsal fins. Most individuals are less than 1.9 m (6.2 ft) long.

Grey reef sharks are fast-swimming, agile predators that feed primarily on free-swimming bony fishes and cephalopods. Their aggressive demeanor enables them to dominate many other shark species on the reef, despite their moderate size. Many grey reef sharks have a home range on a specific area of the reef, to which they continually return. However, they are social rather than territorial. During the day, these sharks often form groups of 5–20 individuals near coral reef drop-offs, splitting up in the evening as the sharks begin to hunt. Adult females also form groups in very shallow water, where the higher water temperature may accelerate their growth or that of their unborn young. Like other members of its family, the grey reef shark is viviparous, meaning that the mother nourishes her embryosthrough a placental connection. Litters of 1–6 pups are born every other year.

Grey reef sharks were the first shark species known to perform a threat display, a stereotyped behavior warning that it is prepared to attack.^[3] The display involves a "hunched" posture with characteristically dropped pectoral fins, and an exaggerated, side-to-side swimming motion. Grey reef sharks often do so if they are followed or cornered by divers to indicate that they perceive a threat. This species has been responsible for a number of attacks on humans and should be treated with caution, especially if they begin to display. Grey reef sharks are caught in many fisheries and are susceptible to local population depletion due to their low reproduction rate and limited dispersal. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened.

Thursday´s Dip: White Chinese & Bottlenose Dolphins

The best of todays video material: First encounter with a pod of Chinese White dolphins accompanied by two bottlenose dolphins, then lots of footage of bottlenose dolphins. There is an amazing scene where two dolphins cuddle (towards the end) and when they check us out and swim straight into our face...

PS: We are still trying to figure out if thursday´s sharks pose any threat to us. They looked like grey reef sharks to me. To follow...

Thursday

Amazing shot ! Curious bottlenose individual

It's 10 a.m.
The blue spotted ray

Mohammed, the guard, calls and points to the water: "Abu Salame, Mister Daniel !"
I jump up and see something right above the corals just in front of me just meters from the us. Leo and I get on the kayak. "It's not a dolphin" shouts Aldo "it's a sea turtle!"
But it isnt that either. In the meantime Leo and I are right next to him. It's a beautiful spotted eagle ray. With about 120cm wingspan, it looks like a bat and flies like a bird. Its not scared by us, circles the bay a few times then flies away...
-
12:45
The Chinese Whites again

Here they come.
To my surprise yesterdays chinese whites are here again, the very same group, accompanied (or should I say escorted ?) by two bottlenose dolphins. I cannot say they swam together, but more in a safe distance, eyeing each other. I wonder what their relationship is like. Do bottlenose dolphins tolerate other dolphin types in their territory? Do they engage with each other or do they treat the other like humanoids dealt with homo neanderthalis?

They are more flexible...

...very curious and playful...

...and not afraid of the reef.

Chinese Whites are nice to be around with

Chinese whites are different from bottlenose dolphins in several ways. When they breathe they swim in a stronger arc than the latter. They seem to be more mobile, swimming in tighter circles, but are maybe not as fast. They are less prudent with coral reefs, swimming in and over them. They are more curious and playful. They move up the coast slowly, in no hurry to go anywhere.

When close I knock against the kayak hull... And here they come. I'm with the chinese whites, then with the two bottlenose, and then again with the firrst group. There are at least 6 of them. Coming and going...
The sessions lasts a good 20 min.
-
2:45
Of dolphins and sharks

Valentina joins me this time. We are quickly out there and see... these are bottlenose dolphins.
They move up from the south. There are quite a few. It looks like there are about 20 individuals.
We move along with them and they are right with us, all the time.
Valentina goes in first. The dolphins circle around her and are in no haste to move on. It is always amazing how dolphins behave towards children.

Vali inside the action

Then I go in. It´s a group I know, and they know me. We connect immediately and swim together. There is one dolphin that picks me out. We swim together for 10 minutes or so, really close, my fingers are just centimeters away and I feel a strong urge to touch him. But I don´t.

Then its Valentina´s turn again. She is in heaven, and I´m so happy she has a chance to experience this and savor it.

The dolphins were very interactive, relaxed and curious today

Visibility was good too

View from below

He asked for a cuddle

This one gave us a spectacular 2 m jump later that day

Hello there....

Then it´s my turn again. When one goes in the other follows close by, so one does not have to swim back to any drifting far-away kayak and loose precious time. This way one stays right behind the pod and can follow him all day.
It´s great in the water, I´m right inside the group when a zordiac motor boat enters the scene. The engine and clicking of the transmission frightens the pod and they dash away. I´m left alone in a world of bubbles from the  motor boat engine.

 Jetski´s and motor boats are enemy number one of dolphins. One has to be aware of this !!

Valentina goes back in, then me, then her... this goes on for an hour and a half.
Until we are way off from where we started.

I´m stunned to see inside the group, which seems to have gotten bigger, the chinese whites ! They seem to be integrated in the bottlenose group ! They really seem to be a part of them...
I wonder if they interbreed ?!

So we are far away by now. My arms feel like lead and I´m cooked. The dolphins seem to be far away...
This has been as good as a dolphin swim can ever get !

We have a dip at a beautiful coral reef spot when I see the dolphins turn back.
We climb back onto the kayak when I see the dolphins swim straight at us. Something whirls up the water 15m away. I´m just about to go in, have a final peek and realize, this thing in the water are not dolphins. They are further away. What we have here are sharks !

They must have been moved out of their usual habitat by the dolphins...

One of the six sharks

A group of 6 sharks, close together like a dolphin pod is right below our kayak, and they circle around us a few times. I´m amazed, take some pictures, while Valentina gets very scared. "Don´t be" I say to her, but that is not the right thing to say in these circumstances and she is now also angry with me.

I feel helpless, row her back to the beach and she walks back home alone.

Too bad this amazing session, which lasted more than an hour and a half, has to end in tears.
-
6:00 p.m.
Spectacular 2m jumps

While I row back there are many more dolphins around.
Back on the beach Leo greets me. The sea is now full of dolphins. "Shall we have a go?" I asked him and he nods. With his broken arm he may not fall off the kayak. Good that he is careful.

Here we go. Soon we follow the pod.
One of the dolphins, the one I swam with before, shows off big time and makes a neat 2m jump right next to our kayak. He turns his head and looks at us while he does it. He splashes down and the water nearly reaches Leo. Wow, that was cool !

There is one pod after another that arrives. The mixed one, the pod with the dolphin with the pointed belly, then the pod with the finless dolphin and so on. I count 6 pods but I have the suspicion there were even more.  We paddle with them for another hour. It seems the dolphins wait for me to go in as they stay very close with us. But I can´t with Leo with a broken arm on board.

While returning we see yet another dolphin pod. But we have had enough for today.

Chinese White Dolphins in Egypt !

The video quality is mediocre but the images are extremely rare !

Wednesday

Valentina joined me today for the third encounter

With our departure from Egypt this summer in mind any occasion is good to drop everything and run to the beach. How could I leave my father in law, who is visiting us, in dusty Cairo ? Isn't it my duty to take him to the sea where he can have extended walks and breathe clean air ?
-
So here we are, it's the middle of the week and we are alone in the compound. The beach is all ours. No other souls around.
It' s hot, around 40*C, no wind, flat sea.

10:45, our friends arrive

We meet up, the pod is relaxed, no warning signals are given, I'm swimming right beside a female with her calf.
The big male with his dorsal fin missing is there.
And a big male arrives from behind, in full errection. His dick looks like a hook and is pointed. The size is similar to our human instruments. With a swift movement the thing is pulled back under his skin and disappears. The dolphin penis is under the skin and only extrudes when needed. Not a bad idea by nature as in this way there is no friction that could slow down dolphins when they swim.

At first I'm among them, then I'm slightly behind them, then I'm so far behind that they start to fade in the water, then they are gone.

I wished I could swim faster.

Unfortunately the batteries of my camera mask are empty. I think there is a problem with this video mask as it sometimes refuses to swith off. That propably drained my batteries...
-
1 p.m. The Loner

Batteries are replaced.
There ! A lonely dolphin !
It's difficult to spot him as he comes up to beathe rarely. So while in the water I try to make out where he is. There ! He avoided me.
I go back on the kayak and follow him. He goes fast, I go fast, suddenly he arrives and zigzags in front of the kayak. We move together, he slows down, looks at me from below the water, we speed up again.
Then he stops. I stop. He seems to expect me to go in. I do and he swims right towards me. We swim together for approx. 100m. He moves forward, then waits. The kayak is far away by now, I have to return.

The loner

Hey, that was really nice!
-
15:45 - Chinese White Dolphins !

After lunch and a Sakkara my eyes are half open, the metabolism is working at 50%, I'm on the phone when Valentina calls. I can't really hear what she says but she keeps making gestures towards the water. Dolphins !

Hop, the kayak, out we row. A dolphin sticks his head straight out of the water, looking out for us. They jump and play, staying in the same spot, seemingly waiting for us. Soon we are there and then I see it: these are NOT bottlenose dolphins ! This is a whole pod of chinese white dolphins ! I saw one only once about a year ago. They have become very rare. I wrote last year about my awe and this nearly religious feeling when encountering such a threathened living being...

If you look closely you will see three dolphins here

Chinese White dolphins look distinctly different from bottlenose dolphins

These dolphins have a very pointed nose 

They very extremely playful, quick and curious

The head form is very pointed

Coming to check us out

The dorsal fin is clearly visible here

And the group, we engaged with about six dolphins, although I suspect there were more, was very playful and interactive. Their character seems to be more open and curious. They sped pas Valentina and me, turning around, stopping, looking with enormous curiosity at us - wondering what we are ... As if they never saw humans.

Then they disappeared, to reappear again, whistling, moving fast.
This session lasted approximately 20 min.

Eventually it was time to get back to the abandoned kayak that was floating some good distance in the middle of the sea.

State of the ocean - How bad is it ? (It´s real bad!)

DIAGNOSING THE STATE OF THE OCEAN'S HEALTH

IPSO is currently compiling the Global State of the Ocean Report, which will collate world-wide marine science to give a comprehensive overview of the health of the Ocean. The Report is due to be published in 2012 but we already know that the Ocean's health is in a critical state.

This affects everyone, because — just like the climate — the Ocean forms one of the key operating systems of our planet. It creates more than half our oxygen, drives weather systems and modulates the atmosphere, as well as providing us with vital resources. So the Ocean functions at a fundamental 'Earth System' level, transcending national borders to help maintain life everywhere on Earth.

Damage to the Ocean is not as immediately apparent as terrestrial destruction, but it is just as serious. All of the stressors we have put on the Ocean — from over-fishing to pollution — have contributed to its ill-health. The situation is now so severe that we are altering the chemistry of the Ocean, with significant impacts on marine life and the functioning of marine ecosystems.

The Ocean has already absorbed more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system and around 33% of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans. Ecosystems are collapsing as species are pushed to extinction and natural habitats are destroyed. Scientists believe that there is still time to prevent irreversible, catastrophic changes to our marine ecosystems but that this requires drastic action within a decade.

http://www.stateoftheocean.org/


My god, it is real bad !  

Low tides

No dolphins this weekend. After last weeks moon eclipse we had the lowest possible tide this years with the coral reefs sticking 10 cm out of the water. I guess the water level was to low for our pods and they moved further away. 

Hot as hell - another dolphin day

Taken from below

Weekend - beach. There is no wind and the water surface is absolutely flat. It is incredibly hot. 

Just by sitting there, under the umbrella, one disintegrates into a piece of sweaty meat. There is the urge to throw yourself into the sea for some refreshment, but that water is nearly as hot. Only once one dives down and stirs up some deeper water does it get fresher.

Tiny is there and Lorenzo. It´s a nice afternoon, we talk and drink and eat all day - no dolphins in sight.

Lorenzo talks about taking the car to Port Said and stay there overnight. By 4 p.m. he has nearly convinced himself that it is time to leave when the dolphins appear. Having decided to leave he takes an eternity to convince himself back to stay a little longer and get on the kayak. Yallah ! I scream and he slowly gets going.

The water is so flat we fly towards the dolphins. The kayak just glides on the surface and cuts through like butter.

While we approach I explain to Lorenzo we should swop, one goes in and the other accompanies the swimmer, so when the dolphins continue you get back on the kayak, catch up and then the other one goes in. I suggest he goes in first. No, Daniel, you may go... no, you, please,... no you... after a few rounds he goes in. The pod comes and swims around him. He is right in the middle. Then the pod splits, the group with the small ones moves away and a few adults stay. I see a giant bubble rise from the first group.

A bit later Lorenzo is back on the kayak - delighted. We catch up with the group and I go in.

Here they come. Mouth open, whistling and clicking sound all around (see the picture below).

Mouth wide open - communicating with his friends

The group again moves on but two dolphins, the distractors, stay. And they are incredibly interactive. The invite to follow them, the return again and again, we do circles, I dive down, take pictures from below.
When I stick my head out of the water to get back on the kayak, Lorenzo is far away, head in the water.  The dolphins are relaxed today, the surface flat and we catch up with the group again anyway.
Lorenzo goes in, and then it is me again.

The second time I meet again the two friends from before. And suddenly the rest of the pod comes, with kids and everybody. There is the finless dolphin.We swim together for a while. A dolphin swims upside down. He cuddles against his friends.

Eventually they accelerate and I look for Lorenzo. He is in the water somewhere else.
When we are back on the kayak he prefers to go instead of following the pod. He leaves me on the kayak and swims back to the shore.

Lorenzo is a truly independent person, and that is what is so precious about him.

While I follow the pod, that has advanced considerably I´m surprised to see one jump straight out of the water. And then another one and another....eventually the whole pod, about 15 dolphins, is hoping and racing down the coast. They are hunting ! What a sight !

Impossible to follow them I turn around and row back.

Back on the beach we reflect on the session we just had. Lorenzo is as high as I am.

These two stayed with us

Follow me

Dolphin world - upside down

Cuddling with his mate - head against fin

Moving on

Evening, 7 p.m.
A little breeze is making live more acceptable. It is about to get dark.
The dolphins return from the north. They travel slowly. We move down the coast together for 2 km, me in the kayak, them below. I don´t go in.