The water was calm, the air was warm, and all the dolphins in the world swam by me. 
The weather was great today – no wind, no waves, mostly sunny, and pretty darn warm. I managed to hop on an early morning boat trip. We saw a few dolphin groups swimming lazily around the island. We must have stumbled across them during their ‘quiet time’. Although for the most part they were not interested in interacting, they were also not too bothered by us, so we got some good video shots as they passed us by. One group of adults and subadults had to have had over 35 individuals. It is an amazing and somewhat eerie experience to find yourself swimming alone in the water, immersed in the vastness of the ocean, when out of the blue (literally) a group of dolphins appears in your field of visions as if materializing from another world. They are enormous gray shapes, gliding through the water in formation, resembling a fleet of starships or a squadron of fighter jets. They move effortlessly, passing by on all sides – above and below. I was engulfed by this group of 35 dolphins who hardly took any notice of me. I was nothing more to them than a piece of driftwood that required only a minor amount of effort to avoid. It was a magnificent experience.
We also came across a large group of mothers and their calves. I spotted two of the ultra-small calves from this year, and got a great shot one of the calves nursing (above picture). One of the other researchers said that they saw an adult female that had just given birth, which means there is one more baby to add to the fold! Today was another great day, and I filled up another video tape! I won’t mention the fact that there is a typhoon of sorts heading our way, as that would probably spoil my mood (oops, I think I did just mention it). Oh well, no bother – typhoon schmyphoon. I am ready for it!
-Justin