[Paddlewise] Dolphin Jackpot

I kayak almost everyday living close to the water in Corpus Christi.  
Occasionally see dolphins, and over the last 9 years have had some close 
encounters.  Once while surfing in the Gulf, a pod of dolphin were surfing 
into the beach with me, then ducking under and swimming back out to do it 
again.  Lasted about 10 minutes.  Have had one or two chase the boat at an 
angle and then jump in front.  Last year I found myself in the middle of a 
group that must have been having their rite of spring mating ritual...they 
all looked were frolicking and completely oblivious to my presence.

But the jackpot came Saturday in Corpus Christi Bay.  It was a beautiful 
sunny day in the 70’s, clear blue sky, and I had crossed the bay from Corpus 
Christi, and was about half way between Indian Point and the Alcoa Aluminum 
Plant on the Ingleside side.  As I was paddling along (about 5mph) I saw 
some dolphin jumping in front of me, passed them to the side of me, and they 
followed after me.  I could hear them surfacing and breathing close to my 
rear quarter, and was getting a kink in my neck from trying to paddle while 
looking back at them.  Slowed down and waited for them to get in front of 
me, and then followed for a while to one side of them.  There were about 
four dolphin, two very big ones, and two smaller.  They didn’t get too close 
to the kayak and were pretty much doing their own thing.  I tried my bag of 
tricks to catch their interest....paddling fast, paddling slow, not paddling 
at all and remaining very quiet, sliding my wet finger along the fiberglass 
hull to make various squeaking noises (high, low, short, long).  They 
reminded me of the typical puppy who wants to play, but is afraid of the 
stranger, but once familiarity is gained, won’t quit.  The group of four 
grew to two groups of 4, and they were all around the kayak as I alternated 
between paddling and coasting.  Then in the distance I saw a wave in the 
glistening sun/water horizon.  As it got closer, I saw a V formation of 
dolphin (largest in front center flanked by two smaller on the sides) and 
they were bounding at what looked like full speed over to our group.  From 
that point on, the play intensified, and on several occasions a group of 
three dolphin in V formation would come bounding towards the kayak, and then 
dive and go under at the last moment.  I think their game was to see how 
close they could come without hitting.  I saw them swim very close under the 
water, and saw the whirlpools come to the surface from their swimming 
activities.  Water was boiling at times...I don’t know if it was from their 
releasing air under the boat or if it was merely the whirlpools from their 
strokes.  I was in a Dagger Meridian (white hull, yellow deck) with my skeg 
all the way up in its slot, so I began to wonder if they thought I was a 
female dolphin from under the water, and maybe this was foreplay rather than 
horseplay.  Many times they would jump out of the water just before coming 
by the boat so there was lots of eye-to-eye contact.  I was so totally 
engrossed that I it wasn’t until they finally left that I realized this had 
taken place in a 1-1/4 hour period.  It was only as I paddled back home that 
I also realized that my camera was sitting inside my cockpit and I never 
once thought about it or taking pictures.  Chance of a lifetime and I missed 
it entirely.  The dolphin were beautiful, gleaming in the sunshine, and 
romping with abandon.  Maybe next time I’ll remember to pull my camera and 
post the pictures on my web page with my other pictures of kayaking around 
Corpus Christi at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~johnsonkw/
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