[Paddlewise] To rescue or not to rescue?

On Sat morning we had a club paddle on Nueces Bay with 7 singles and 1 double participating.  I arrived at our launch site on the south end of the Nueces Bay Causeway shortly before the designated 7am launch time so I could take some sunrise pictures.   The cloud formations on the NE horizon produced some great colors and patterns.  My meager photographic skills did not really do justice to the view, but I did get a couple of nice pictures.

We paddled the quarter mile over to an island nesting sanctuary hoping to see a good variety of birds.  August is a little late in the season, so we only saw a few great blue herons and some gulls.  We turned around and headed back up into Nueces Bay to check out the sunken barge.  Often there is a large group of brown pelicans on the wreck, but today we only saw only 2 brown pelicans and 1 great blue heron.  We then decided to check out an undeveloped industrial channel nearby.  The banks on both sides are overgrown with brush and small trees so it is almost like paddling up a small river.  Since there are so few trees in the area this is usually a good birding spot.  However there was not much to see today and we turned around to head back to the bay.   Between bathroom breaks, searches for water in hatches, and a couple of boat swaps, the group got really spread out.   I was pretty far ahead so I decided to follow the couple in the double around the point that lead out to the main part of the bay.  

They had turned and were headed back towards me when I saw the fin.  The dolphin was at least a couple of hundred yards out towards the middle of the bay and was angling slightly away from us.  I was really surprised since I had never seen any dolphins in Nueces Bay.  We paddled out toward it, but were not gaining a lot of ground so I tried my trusty dolphin call by rubbing my finger along the side of the kayak.  We lost sight of the fin, but continued paddling along a course that was more parallel to the direction it had been traveling.  Suddenly two dolphins surfaced just behind me.  Then there was a third and a fourth.  They were on both sides of us and it was difficult to tell if they were headed in any particular direction so we just held our course as they swam back and forth around us.  Then they turned and started to swim toward the rest of the kayaks that were just coming out of the channel and we followed. 

I know there were at least 5 dolphins but there may have been as many as 8.  They were swimming back and forth between and around the kayaks and coming in from all angles so it was hard to get an accurate count.  At one point there were 3 of them abreast leading our group only feet in front of the lead kayak.  I tried to get some pictures but I finally decided to put the camera down and just enjoy the show.  They continued to stay with us as we paddled back to the launch and then they just seemed to disappear.  I stopped to wait for the last kayaker who had dropped a good distance behind while trying to get some dolphin pictures.  Just as she caught up with me, the dolphins were back.  They circled us a few times and then headed off at about a 45 degree angle to the direction the rest of the group had taken back to the landing.  I decided to follow the dolphins for a while in hopes of getting some more pictures.  

As I looked back to the group I noticed what looked like an overturned kayak and a paddler in the water.  The dolphins must have noticed too because they turned back and started toward the group.  I followed the dolphins and watched as Rafael started to set up for an assisted rescue.  I guess the dolphins knew everything was ok so they turned away and headed back on their original course.  I was now in a dilemma.  Should I go help with the rescue?  Would it be ok if I followed the dolphins?  Would I miss a great picture if I did not follow?   Dolphins or rescue? Dolphins or rescue?  I chose dolphins and followed them as they headed out to the channel where Nueces Bay joins the larger Corpus Christi Bay.   The rescue was successful and unfortunately I did not get any more dolphin pictures.  I think my thoughts on the situation can best be expressed by the words of William Shakespeare who wrote:

To rescue or not to rescue, that is the question.
Whether tis nobler to aid an overturned kayaker 
Or to paddle off with the dolphins
And by following enjoy them?  To paddle; to chase:
No more; and by a chase to say we enjoy
The sights and thousand moves 
That dolphins are heir to, tis an opportunity
Devoutly to be wish'd.  To paddle, to chase;
To chase; perchance to touch; ay, there's the rub;
For in that chase and touch what violation of MMPA may come
When we shuffle off to a federal jail.

Note: MMPA - marine mammal protection act.


If you want to see the pictures of the sunrise and the dolphins you can go to
http://home.earthlink.net/~hkwp1/id36.html


Mark J. Arnold
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