Swimming with dolphins

[BigLebowski]

hi there

I did a marathon swim one night of about 7 hours in the Ionian Sea. I became surrounded by dolphins who pipped and squeaked at me for hours. I couldn't see them but the noise was incredibly loud and they sounded close. At the time I was non plussed and in fact slightly wary in case they "jumped" me

When I reached the beach I felt totally exhilerated and on top of the world. I never felt so good. I wanted to tell everyone what an amazing experience it was. I found myself yabbering to strangers for hours. It was a very peculiar experience, almost a "nirvana" moment. I had no visual interaction with the dolphins so I can hypothesize only that their ultrasound had some sort of affect on me.

I wondered if anyone else has ever experienced this sort of thing? I have heard about similar affects with people but only after visual and tactile interaction with the dophins. This was purely by sound which makes me think the ultrasound is the therapeutic agent.

Cheers
Dude

 

[cdreamer]

I've had this experience with 50-100 dolphins in the murky mid-atlantic. They surrounded us but never came too close. It was dolphin surround sound and it was amazing! They were so loud that we actually heard them ON the boat and I looked to the captain to ask if he heard it too. About 60 seconds later I was in the water! They made a big circle around me and my husband and although we couldn't see them - they "saw" us quite well. I don't know about any therapeutic effects by the sonar or echolocation but just sharing space in itself is therapeutic for me. It's an unforgetable experience for sure.

 

[TMHeimer]

My wife "swam with the dolphins" in Cuba (not scuba). When she was riding one it pulled her swim trunk bottoms down.

 

[Garrobo]

All that chatter was the dolphin's way of communicating as to whether you were edible or not. I guess, in your case, they decided not.

 

[BigLebowski]

I can't blame them, since I'd eaten a ton of garlic washed down with a few Mythos!

I suspect the affect is diminished if you are wearing a suit.

Cheers
Dude

 

[Hoomi]

Are you kidding? We saw a super-pod swim by in the distance through our cabin window on our cruise last year, and I was pretty much on cloud 9 all day. I didn't even need to be in the water with them to get the effect.

 

[Belmont]

You were on adrenalin after your long swim plus the exitement of that experience.
I doubt their emitted sounds could have caused that kind of euphoria, maybe it was the garlic???

 

[tstormdiver]

While on a Blackbeard's cruise last fall, while we were just swimming around & jumping off the boat to kill time before supper, when a pod of 6-8 wild dolphins came up to the boat. Of course we all grabbed masks, fins, snorkels & cameras & jumped in. The dolphins played with us for about an hour. We would free dive down & they would follow us spinning & flipping underwater, clicking & squeaking the whole time. On the surface they jumped out a couple of times. Of course, they never came close enough for anyone to touch them, but the would come within a few feet of us. The water was crystal clear, so we could see them quite well & I have no doubt the could even see us. It was a very cool experience!