I couldn’t believe it when I found out that Patriot Scuba,
Jeff and Merial, set up a dive where we could dive with the dolphins. I come
from an era where there was a TV show with a wonderful dolphin named “Flipper” that
was very popular and it was my favorite as a child. I used to dream of owning
my own dolphin one day but the thought never crossed my mind about being in
their natural environment and diving in the clear blue water with them.
I had the great privilege of doing just that on our dive
trip to the Grand Bahamas. It truly was the most surreal experience I have ever
had. We went to the place where the dolphin are trained and cared for by a
wonderful staff with UNEXSO. We had a briefing where we learned a little bit of
history, the type of research the center performs, how to respect and interact
with the dolphins, but most of all the hand signals we needed to know to
interact with them on our dive.
I was truly overwhelmed with the anticipation of diving with
this dolphin and felt like a little kid waiting to open her Christmas presents.
On our way to the dive site, the boat with the trainers was next to our dive
boat and the dolphin (Koholo) was jumping in between the two boats. Once there
I couldn’t wait to get into the water and play with Koholo. We all descended
and formed a circle on the bottom of the ocean with about 15
ft. between all the divers.
I remember watching Koholo interact with the other divers
and then….it was my turn! I put my hand out in front of me and Koholo swam
right up to me and stopped so that I could pet him. He turned his head and
looked at me and while I was rubbing him he began closing his eyes just like a
puppy does when you scratch them behind the ears. I was so excited I wanted to
jump up and down but being that that’s impossible underwater I did a little
wiggle dance. I took my regulator out of my mouth and Koholo gave me a kiss
right on the mouth, again I did a little wiggle (which is now called my dolphin
dance). Then as I lifted off the bottom of the ocean and put my right arm
straight out to my side Koholo put his nose in the palm of my hand and spun me
around several times. I was doing my dolphin dance all the way down to my
resting spot on the bottom. On the video my husband, Jose, was taking you can
hear him laughing under water through his regulator in the video. We had some
time to swim freely with Koholo once all the divers had a chance to interact
with him. He swam amongst us stopping to let us pet him, hug on him, and then
he waved good-bye and swam away into to the clear blue. 
I want to thank the staff from UNEXSO in Port Lucaya Bay for
a wonderful experience and great dives. To my husband Jose for introducing me
to scuba diving and experiencing these great adventures together. To our
fabulous dive club “Patriot Scuba” (Jeff and Merial) and our fellow dive
buddies from this trip, Jeff, JP & Lynda, Lisa, Tom & Wanda, Jeff and
Brian, which Jose and I consider to be family.
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