Wild Dolphins and Wetsuits – Revision 1

One
of my spiritual adventures a few years ago was swimming with wild
dolphins off Akaroa, a city on a peninsula on the South Island, New
Zealand. I was so excited, it was something that I had been longing to
experience for quite some time. And I wanted to experience being with
wild dolphins, not domesticated ones.

My comrades in arms for this adventure were Rae Osborn, a really good
friend of mine, and Amanda Broadhurst-Multhaup, someone I was just
beginning to know. We made our rendezvous and drove out to Akaroa, also called the French Settlement – quaint, historic, very scenic.   

And
so the adventure began in earnest. Living by the warm waters of the
Gulf of Mexico, I’d never had to wear a wetsuit before, so I was
looking forward to another new experience. I told the lady my size, and
she brought me this rubber suit. I tried to put it on, but it was Way
too small. So I took it back to the lady and told her I needed a bigger
size. She reassured me the size was correct. Hmmm. Rae and Amanda were
totally unsuccessful in smothering their laughter. It almost took
longer to put on that tiny rubber suit (it was already wet), than we
spent with the dolphins. Suffice to say, getting into the wetsuit was a
nail breaking, swearing tug-of-war made
more hilarious by each other’s antics. My learning: I have a tendency to want to skip preparation, just plunge in there and see what happens (I know, I know). In this case, the prep was life-saving, and it was also bonding and fun as we grunted and laughed our way through it.

Dolphin info: Hectors Dolphins are the rarest of dolphins, found only
in New Zealand, and mostly around the South Island. We were warned not
to touch … "these are wild dolphins, not pets." Once we got into
their area, the captain told us to "make noise, play, keep ‘em curious.
They will only come around if you interest them." When he stopped the
boat, I eased over the side to get my legs used to the cold. After a
few minutes, I realized that just wasn’t going to happen. Then I
wondered if I could play with the dolphins from the back of the boat.
That water was past “cold," it could have turned into an iceberg at any
moment. You know how I like cold water (NOT!). After 2 minutes of
shaming myself (Rae and
Amanda were already out there), I jumped in. For the next few minutes,
I could only gasp, taking in air that couldn’t get into my lungs – I
thought I was going to die from asphyxiation with my mouth wide open.
It took awhile before I could
function properly. My learning: The things I most want often have obstacles that seem insurmountable from the outset. Unless I go for it, I could be robbing myself of what I really want. If the dolphins come, great. If the dolphins don’t come, at least it wasn’t Me robbing Me of that opportunity. And next time, I will come with things that interest dolphins. I don’t have to give up, just  because it didn’t work the first time. And there are No Guarantees. (Which really makes it all more exciting.)

The next hour
was spent exploring my connection with my cousins, the dolphins – not knowing what interests them, and willing to experiment – part of the fun. I learned several things:

1. In order to hang out with my cousins, it’s helpful to stay alive – which is dicey if I turn my head (with
attached snorkel) into an oncoming wave and breathe at the same time.

2. It’s not just people who don’t like my singing. I sang as loud as I could underwater, and nary a dolphin came to admire.

3. Dolphins like ‘zipper music’ – especially Old MacDonald
(try working your wetsuit zipper with bloodless fingers – it’s a talent).

4. Wet suits
ARE a flotation device. (I hadn’t known that.) Either that, or it
wasn’t water, it really was ice, and we were floating on top of it.

5. You can get instant warmth by peeing in your wetsuit.

6. The warmth doesn’t last long – nothing could stay warm long in that water.

7. I want to
do it again (play with dolphins, I mean).

8. Post-experience learning: I want my own
wetsuit. That is a choice I made later, when realization dawned – others
before me had probably peed in that same wetsuit. Yuck!

9.Post-experience learning: When I first went into the water, all I could think about was how cold I was, until the dolphins zoomed out of the cloudy, icy
sea. At that point, cold was a non-issue. Everything was a non-issue,
except these flashing quick creatures – and how to communicate with
them. I was scared at first, cuz they knocked me out of my solitariness
with no warning. From out of nowhere, they rushed right up to me,
around me, checking me out. How
they avoided slamming into me, I’ll never know. But they never even
touched me physically. They touched me in every other way. This might seem weird, but one of them looked me right in the eyes. It was just a moment, and many other things were happening at the same time as that moment, so I didn’t really soak it in. And I’ve never spoken of it since. I don’t have language for that moment. In fact, not until Kirsten’s email to me, did I get that I was avoiding the exploration of that imprinted moment in time. It seems to be one of those sacred connections where words get in the way, it wants to be ‘felt’ – just felt – physically felt, being a part of the electricity of two sentient beings when one plus one is more than two – way more – and time suspends itself. My learning: I got what I wanted. My second learning: If Kirsten hadn’t sent that email, I would not have revisited that time, and my first learning would have remained buried in my subconscious. Now I have my connection with that dolphin back – a sacred experience that I can consciously hold as part of who I am today. Thank you Kirsten, and thank you, my cousin, wherever you are now, you are alive in me.