Encounters with dolphins

[zoidberg]

They always seem to bring joy.

I've had many encounters with dolphins over the years. Here are a couple of brief tales, to start things off....

Among the most memorable.... some decades ago, while alone-helming the Island Cruising Club's schooner 'Hoshi' cross-channel on a murky black night, a pair of torpedo trails of vivid phosphorescence shot past from astern.... then two more....then others. I called the others up from below to witness this spectacular show. The pod settled in/around the bow wave for 20 minutes or so.

Leaving Baltimore Harbour, Co.Cork on a bright morning I was joined by a pod of large critturs who were fascinated by the white water-paddle of my windvane steering gear. They pushed and shoved each other for minutes on end, trying to get within inches of the wooden paddle, and the big one would roll half-sideways to stare fixedly up at me just a couple of feet away, hanging over the transom.

On another occasion, motoring slowly one evening into Salcombe Harbour on a flat sea, just before the bar, we noticed a small motor-launch stopped, close in under the crags, with its occupants gesturing to us. We stopped the engine, then noticed just ahead a ring of air bubbles rise up, then another just adjacent.... We drifted back slowly on the start of the ebb, watching this 'shepherding' of schools of fish by a pod of dolphins - which is what the others had noticed, and didn't want us to disturb. We slipped quietly off to the side and got out of the way of their evening feed.

 

[Daydream believer]

When going through the Raz Du Sein in a light breeze from Douarnez to Audierne, my wife & I were watching a massive water spout approaching from the west. It had a base of about 1/4 mile across. We dropped the sails, shut the hatches. hooked on & motored south towards the channel. As we neared , 2 dolphins approached & started playing round the boat& in the prop wash. We could see their tails sticking out from under the transom. As we were almost through the water spout collapsed on the Isle De Sein. I went forward to free the mainsail for hoisting & my wife shouted because the 2 dolphins got either side of the boat , surfaced & at the same time they both squirted her with water whilst she was sitting at the helm. How on earth they managed to syncronise the action at exactly the same time beats me. When we passed through they swam 75 yards in front & both jumped about 6 feet out of the water together about 4 feet apart as if saying good bye & disappeared .
My wife was convinced that they were there to protect us

 

[ProDave]

Regular sight here in the Moray Firth and a delight to see each time.

 

[capnsensible]

Fed up with dolphins. See the flippin things everywhere.

?

 

[penfold]

Bloody flipper, larking about and having fun. At least when flying fish appear you can be reasonably sure of getting a feed out of it.

 

[Clancy Moped]

I think we have one decent photo taken by the OH, my efforts seem to be a
mixture of my feet, cleats, toerails, and the occasional anchor (Rocna)...

 

[Clancy Moped]

Found it...

​

 

[westhinder]

I can never get enough of them. Especially as I only see them when travelling, in my part of the North Sea they are rare.
They bring an enormous sense of joy, to children and adults alike.
When crossing the Irish Sea, we saw a flock of seagulls milling around from a distance, occasionally diving; as we got closer, we saw a pod of dolphins in a sort of feeding frenzy. They didn’t pay us any attention although we passed some 150 meters from them, but 20 minutes later they caught up with us and stayed around the boat for over 30 minutes. Magic!
This shot was taken when crossing Biscay:

 

[ProDave]

I just can't seem to make the Moray Firth look as attractive as more exotic locations.

 

[johnalison]

This is the only time that I have ever captured one of their beaks. Nowadays, with the ability to pre-shoot, it would be relatively easy. Somewhere south of Dartmouth, as you can clearly see.

 

[jamie N]

Fort George in the background, and a Dolphin struggling to keep up with STAKKR.

 

[Daydream believer]

What does bore me are videos of yacht trips where most of the vid is of blasted dolphins. As if we have not seen enough dolphin videos. If I am watching a video about a boat, I do not want to see a third of it about dolphins swimming under the bow.

 

[zoidberg]

Old curmo..... curmigeing.... curmugeo.....
Sod it, I agree!

 

[ProDave]

Fort George in the background, and a Dolphin struggling to keep up with STAKKR.
View attachment 114432

Priceless photo to get the dolphin AND your boat.

 

[alan_d]

Priceless photo to get the dolphin AND your boat.

He must have needed a really long selfie-stick for that.

 

[Daydream believer]

He must have needed a really long selfie-stick for that.

That Dolphin was really up to date, because his selfie stick had a go pro that wiped the stick out of the picture. Even some humans cannot do that

 

[jamie N]

I'm going to 'fess up, the photo was neither me OR the Dolphin! Actually, it was Charlie Phillips, who's a good bloke as well as an incredibly patient snapper.

 

[Robin]

Digital cameras stopped the film wastage massively, Best pic however and sadly long lost was on 35mm transparency with my lovely lady laying topless on the foredeck, watching multiple other lovely creatures playing either side of the bow. spinnaker above her flying nicely for once and wall to wall sunshine with 6kts on the clock in our then W33. it was our 'welcome back' to Southern Brittany as we had just passed through he RAZ headed south. It seemed like ritual welcomes or au revoir to see them in same place every year. The ones creating the luminescence at night were special too and one lot (pre modern electronics) had me believing we were had strayed off course and into the rocks off the Lizard headed north towards Falmouth one murky night.

We met a fascinating French skipper on a beautiful wooden classic that was flying a largish burgee with dolphin emblem. I asked if it was a club burgee and he replied it was his tribute to a pod of dolphins that had charged repeatedly at him from ahead out of the fog, enough to make him alter course significantly to avoid them and more importantly the rocks he was not far from hitting.....

 

[ip485]

My Movie 5

A few years back in Devon.

 

[graham]

The thing that concerns me when dolphins appear is crew getting over excited hanging over guard rails phones /camera in hand with no thought for their own safety.