Heather Hodges

Today was one of the best days of my life! Some friends from the Palo Alto church in Panama City, (Rex and Luke) took us on a boat ride in search of dolphins. No promises were made that we would actually see any dolphins, but we set out on a beautiful Florida day with the hope that we might. Rex, our skipper and tour guide, stood at the helm as we flew across the water. To our right was an undeveloped island that the military uses for training ops he told us. We actually saw a 2 man water submarine that the Navy Seals were training in as we drove by. Another small boat alerted us to their presence and kept us from getting too close.

We pressed on to the point were the dolphins are often sighted. As we rounded the point there were already several boats and a herd of jet skiers idling in a circle. I looked to where all their heads were pointed and a mother dolphin and her calf broke the surface and swam our direction. My heart stopped. The dolphins were so close we could touch them. Rex put the boat in neutral and said, “Does anyone want to get in?” Luke was in the water before he finished the sentence and I was right on his heals. As I dived into the crystal water of the Emerald Coast I thought, “What am I doing? What if one actually comes up to me? Will it be thrilling or terrifying? These are wild animals.” Wade jumped in near me and voiced the same questions.

Caleb and Elijah had been watching from the boat for some time and finally decided to join their parents. They were very brave as they jumped out of the boat. We treaded water and swam after and among dolphins. The dolphins would swim away and we would get back in the boat and follow them. We rejoined the dolphins in the water when we caught up to them.

After what seemed like 10 minutes, but was closer to an hour and a half, we started back around the point towards home. To our surprise and amazement what we thought was a pod of about 5 or 6 dolphins was actually closer to 15 or 16. Around the point was the main part of the pod swimming close to the rocks off the jetty. The waves were rolling perpendicular to the rock jetty in large swells. There were dolphins all around our boat in groups of twos and threes. Then in the most magical of moments they merged. Eight to ten dolphins were now in a line right in front of our boat riding a wave together! It was as if they were in a water ballet and formed a chorus line of sleek, elegant dancers. The choreography could not have been more perfect. The wave began to break and to our amazement they jumped! I held my breath and simply watched. I’m sorry to say I did not get any pictures of this spectacular event. It happened with such rapidity that not one of us captured it any where except in our memory.

The dolphins ended their ride and swam out to sea. I knew that I had just witnessed intelligent creatures simply having fun. They were at their own water park playing together and checking out the humans. We had come to check out the dolphins and they gave us a glimpse of who they are and what they enjoy doing on a perfect Friday afternoon.