Dolphins!

When I was young, I was never a dolphin lover. Didn't say I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up, thinking it was the way to be able to play and swim with dolphins all day (What tedious research?). Many kids do, probably influenced by some movie or show or quite possibly, a first hand experience. Not me. I was firmly attached to the ground. Literally, I liked rocks. I'd pick them up everywhere.

Looking forward to this trip, I've been really excited about all the life in the ocean to see. Whether from the surface or below it, it's great fun to look at animals that live in a completely different world - one of fluid grace and mystery. And so far we've been rewarded with a lot of amazing sightings; whales, tiny psychedelic-looking nudibranchs, eels, sharks and lots of fish. But the ones that have most inspired a whacked-out giddiness and utter awe are the dolphins.

We can spot them from pretty far off, by the white wakes and soft plumes of their exhalations. Often they look like advancing armies, lined up to take our flank. And when we're lucky, they do surround us, swimming around our boat like moths around a porchlight. They'll align themselves just off the bow, swerving and diving and jumping in front of Liberte as she cuts through the water. It's awesome, in the true sense of the word. They squeak a little. They are so fast, one giant propulsive muscle. They play for a while, and then dart off to find what else is interesting in the water. It is nearly impossible not to anthropomorphize them. I look forward to seeing them every time, and am a little sad when they go.