… but did not dissipate the heat or the following sun.
I had been watching the white caps increase from my door up the hill from the ocean. The swells did not become apparent till I got down to the port. We could only go from the new pier around the east to Motone. At both the pier and Motone, there was a 1~2 m swell. The wind was 20~25 kn but gusted to ~30 kn. The swell was covered by chop that could best be described by a beaufort number of 5~7: yes, we had the rolling and spray-filled 'white horses.'
But, we saw dolphins and I was able to record about 17 minutes of video. I was surprised by how good the underwater visbility was, if I went at least a meter below the surface. The waves churned the bubbles at the surface. The dolphins were mostly social among themselves but staying along the bottom. They would rub with their pec fins on each other, or their bodies into the seaweed.
Our last group (of four sighted) included Shakure (#065) and her 3 month old calf. The calf was with another juvenile and they were surfing and gliding along the swells. Actually, if the dolphins we saw today were not at the bottom, then they were surfing. They whistled while surfing and sped by us so fast, we often only saw a dolphin-shaped blur!
The wind has not abated tonight and the sea is still white. If this keeps up, I doubt there will be a trip tomorrow morning. We shall see.
Cheers
Kathleen