Dolphins-a-poppin 
IMAGE: A picture of my new upside-down dolphin friend…
Two boat trips today! My gosh – what a way to make up for a slow couple of days. Our first trip was a lot like boot camp. We were on a boat with no seats, so getting in and out felt a lot like army training. And for some reason, as soon as we spotted dolphins, there was a mad rush to get in the water. Our group and captain were very enthusiastic – lots of shouting and running around and throwing yourself head first into the ocean with a big heavy camera in tow. Crazy! And for some reason, nearly all of the dolphins we saw were rubbing each other with their pec fins – it was like a massage fest down there today! It is a behavior that is often seen just before or just after resting. There was rubbing of bellies, heads, backs, fins, you name it!
Our second trip was fantastic as well. Beautiful weather and 4 huge groups of dolphins. Lots of mothers and calves, as well as some groups of males, including a little gang of about 6 young males that swam like they had attitude. I can’t explain it any better than that. The highlight was one young dolphin who circle swam around the people in the water for about 1 minute – upside down! Crazy! What a crazy day… I have an early boat trip tomorrow – let’s see if it is as good as today!
-Justin