Who knew dolphins crapped so
much?
We are a short way offshore, near
the southern tip of Zanzibar island, a place called Kizimkazi. It's a calm morning, and we have just found a pod of around 17
bottle-nosed dolphins. Dula, our skipper, manoeuvres the boat into position and
gives us the go-ahead to jump in. I'm already kitted up - mask, snorkel, fins -
and I jump in. There they are, a few metres away.
They are amazingly relaxed, happy
to swim right up to me. For the next hour, there are dolphins all around: under
me, next to me, behind me - and when I dive down, over me. All the time, they keep up a continuous chatter, with much squeaking and clicking.
Two females are clearly on heat.
Maybe this is why they ignore us so completely, the males are far more
interested in the girls, and what their male rivals are up to. There is great
deal of sensuous rubbing and some of the males are visibly aroused.
At the end of a magical hour,
they head off and, without visible effort, quickly disappear into the
blue. The end of the show...
We were incredibly lucky with our
encounter - these dolphins are a well-known tourist attraction and, in high
season, it can get hectic, with boats vying for position, lots of people in the
water and some pretty atrocious behaviour. There are concerns about uncontrolled visits stressing the
dolphins (web link here. If you
catch it right, though, it's pure magic
If you're lucky enough to see the
Kizimkazi dolphins, try to do your bit: take a bit of time to find a reputable
skipper, someone who won't push too hard and put undue pressure on these
wonderful creatures. And spend a bit of time learning about the do's and don'ts
of dolphin viewing. You'll have far more fun as a result... I did!
Oh, I nearly forgot about the
poo: it's true, they were voiding
all the time. I suspect it was to do with
the level of sexual excitement. Any marine mammal experts out there who
can shed some light?
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