7 Feb 2015

 

Hi guys, its Lulu here.  I wanted to share our experience with dolphins while on the crossing to Panama.

We were enjoying beautiful conditions, smooth seas and moderate winds.  This afforded us the opportunity to set the spinnaker all day and surf the waves.

 

Everyone was chilled, when Mark and Bungles on watch called out “dolphins!”.  The rest of us got on deck to have a look and were greeted by a beautiful pod of dolphins dancing through the bow waves.  They had a dark cape, lateral and white ventral areas, and variable lighter spots across their backs.

 

The conditions were smooth enough for us to go and sit in the bows and watch them closely.  There were adults and juveniles, they were playing and tumbling around us.  They were racing ahead of the boat and then pulling back and riding the bow as it surged forward on the crest of a wave.    We were fortunate enough that they stayed with us for about half an hour, longer than we have been used to with other pods.  Finally, some of the adults started leaping and spinning out of the water on either side of the boat, as a last farewell, before disappearing off into the blue.

 

After they had gone we looked them up in the guide and believe that they were Atlantic Spotted Dolphins which are distributed widely across the Atlantic, and are often attracted to the sounds of fast moving boats.