Swimming with the Dolphins

The sky was just starting to turn light as we awoke Friday morning, anxious for the activities our day held for us. A dolphin experience was graciously donated to us by the folks at Marineland, a dolphin conservation center about 30 minutes away from our house in Palm Coast. Marineland is known mostly for being the World's first Oceanarium which opened in 1938. The vision of Marineland was to provide a “window to the sea”, paving the way to increasing the understanding and the appreciation of marine life. Bottlenose dolphins were some of the first animals at the center, and have become the spotlight at the Dolphin Conservation Center at Marineland. The Dolphin Conservation Center holds true to our heart, as they are also a non-profit organization, “dedicated to the research, rescue, rehabilitation and release of dolphins and small whales in Northeast Florida”.

As the sun rose, the air was still warm, yet dark clouds loomed over the horizon, warning us of a storm coming our way. As we approached the Conservation Center, the rain was drizzly, but the lighting beneath the dark clouds was magnificent. We stood on the coastline and looked out on the open ocean at the sun peering out from behind big billowy clouds. I tried to imagine only seeing the open ocean like this for weeks at a time as we embark on our journey. There will be times when we are sailing on long crossings, where all we can see is the horizon, with no land in sight. The waves crashed down as the wind picked up, and right as the rain started, our guide came to meet us.Inside, we were able to get our wristbands and complimentary Marineland towels and soon we were off to the dolphin pools. We could see through the tank and the dolphins swam right up to us, following our hands as we placed them on the glass. The Dolphin Conservation Center is famous for housing Nelly, one of the oldest dolphins in captivity who is 56 years old. Nelly is also special because she gave birth to Sonny, the largest dolphin at the Conservation Center who weighs approximately 530 lbs! As we made our way to the dolphin pool, our lovely intern gave us a lot of great information about dolphins. One fact that really struck me is that dolphins raise their young in pods, because without the help of the other mothers, there is a 25% mortality rate for infant dolphins. I also found out that the reason dolphins look like they are smiling all the time is because their mouths are designed for expelling sea water with minimal effort out of the corners of their mouths.

After our lesson on dolphin life and anatomy, we were all fitted for life jackets and snorkel masks and were ready to enter the water with the dolphins. We were split up into two groups, and were assigned to a trainer. We went to the deepest pool first, where we were really able to swim and interact with two female adult dolphins and one baby dolphin. Our trainer Dani said that the baby dolphin was entering her “bratty” phase, and we would have to ignore most of her playful behavior because they train the dolphins by using positive reinforcement. Our dolphin Roxy was absolutely stunning. When we were able to touch her, her skin was not what I expected it to feel like. Dolphins feel almost like vinyl, not rubbery or waxy like I had thought. We were able to command Roxy to do different tricks, and we watched her swim underneath and all around us. The rain began to come down harder, and it almost made the experience more magical, because we were swimming with such amazing creatures at sunrise, in the warm rain.

After time with the female dolphins we made our way to the shallow pool with the adult male dolphins: Sonny and Chubby. Here we were able to feed the dolphins fish (which they swallow whole!) and have them do jumps and tricks for us. We even got to kiss them!

As we left the Conservation Center, I felt so grateful to have had such a beautiful and incredible first encounter with dolphins. Dolphins are thought of to be a symbol of joy, protection and inner harmony and I definitely felt that way, especially after being up close with them. Dolphins seem to have such a wise and graceful spirit about them, and I know that being able to connect with them in such a special way has granted all of us here at Floating Doctors a great sense of inner peace as we come closer and closer to our date of departure. I feel strongly that the dolphins will serve as our protectors in the water and will help guide our boat safely throughout our whole journey.