As the sun began set on the last night out in the Yucatan Channel, with our sights set on an early arrival into Isla Mujeres, we sat relaxing after another tasty dinner, when we heard a telltale splash followed by a spurt of water…. DOLPHINS!
Always a welcome sight, whether they seem to be trying to nudge us one direction or another away from some hazard, or they’ve just come along for the ride to enjoy a snippet of our journey with us, no one can deny the joy they feel when they see dolphins off the bow.
3 or 4 headed in and took up their position in our bow wake. A quick check to ensure Artie the autopilot had the boat in hand and Tadd and I rushed up to the bow to take a look.
There were 5 bottlenose dolphins taking turns swimming in the push of our bow wake. Another would slide in from the side or from below and another would head out to let his friend have a turn.
Then I spotted a couple more jumping out of the water up ahead a ways… they joined to pod and us…. Then a few more from another direction came in… and another… and another. It was totally incredible! As far as we could count there were 25 dolphins jumping and playing and breaking the water and taking their turn under the bow. Fantastic!
They seemed to be just about as curious about us as we were fascinated with them – a couple of them would turn on their sides and swim at the bow so they could get a good look at the strange humans grinning and talking as they leaned out over the bow. Amazing!
The pod hung with us for quite a while – the longest I’ve ever seen. Only after about half an hour or so did the last one take his last trip at the bow and head off eastwards after his friends.
What a wonderful welcome to Mexican waters! Que viva Mexico!
So Charming!
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