I kissed a girl…and I liked it
Her name was Bimini and her skin was as smooth as fresh hot dog out of water. She was a mammal alright, but not like you and I…she was a dolphin! You’ve heard the mysterious legends and fascinating facts about dolphins. This Labor Day weekend, I traveled to
Miami and had one of the most exciting experiences on my life. I had the chance to have a hands-on experience with the dolphins at
Dolphin
Harbor at the Miami Seaquarium! First, they handed us wet suits to change into (the suits still carried the aroma of those who took to the waters before us). Our group then filed into a classroom for an interactive, educational session about dolphins. Eventually, our instructor led us to the dolphin pool and were told to get into the warm water. They briefly explained where and how to touch the dolphins for each of the “experiences” we would be having. There were about 20 of us in the pool and 4 or 5 dolphins. Our very first encounter with the dolphins was to be pulled across the deep water by one of the dolphins. We were instructed to swim into the water, without splashing our legs outside of the water, and put one are out and wait for the dolphin to swim up to us, grab the dorsal fin, and turn over onto the dolphins back and put our other arm over the fin for more support as she pulled us. It was such a rush. I was terrified that I was going to be “the one” in each session that would fall off the dolphin’s back and be stranded in the middle of the pool. I did it though. I just wish they had allowed us to do it one more time before the end of the session, after I had become more comfortable with the dolphins. One ride was a tease.The dolphins swam by us and let us pet them. The skin was smooth and about how I expected it to be. We got to kiss, hug, dance, play ball and rub and get up-close to these friendly mammals.learned about in an interactive and educational classroom presentation before you put on a wetsuit for the fun filled, deep water interaction with a dolphin.
I always love visiting
Miami. No matter what time of year you visit, the place is always full of life, there is great shopping, food, and nightlife. It’s like traveling to a tropical paradise without having to go too far. I will say, however, that the highlight of my trip was my dolphin swim and smooch. I came away from the experience with incredible respect for the dolphins and a new appreciation for the conservation of nature.
I definitely recommend the experience, but if you are looking to swim with dolphins in NC you are sadly out of luck. The closest encounters that you may have in our great state will be by way of a boat tour or dolphin watch cruise in the Outer Banks (Roanoke Island/Nags Head region).
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The Dolphins we have here in the sound, on the OBX, actually follow our pontoon boat, until they get bored. They are huge and beautiful. I admire you for swimming with them,you GO! Me NO!
EWWWW! on the used wet suits!!
I once met a director of marine mammals at the Steinhart (sp?) aquarium in San Francisco. He let me pet the fresh water dolphins in the tank there. They are not as pretty as the salt water dophins we all know and love. But, their “skin” felt like wet velvet.
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Hey, in January 2005 I swam with dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium too! We got to ride twice though; everyone once with the dorsal fin and then you could choose your second ride by holding the flippers (stomach to stomach with the dolphin swimming backwards) or pushing you through the water with its nose. But even with two rides, I wished for more (especially for the money!). At least I have beach towel as a keepsake!