Dolphins

When Bunch was 8 months old, poor Doc just *had* to spend a month in Bermuda taking an intensive course on fish at BIOS as part of his graduate school requirement.

We knew he'd miss us just terribly if we didn't go with him. It would be simply unbearable for him to be away from us in such a place. He'd scarce be able to focus on his studies if we weren't there. So, being the loving wife that I am, I decided to make the sacrifice to join him.

I got on the horn looking for a place to stay while he was there, but Bermuda is like every other island...expensive. Doc would be living in a dorm at the research station, which wasn't an option for Bunch and me, but after looking at lodging, I realized that there was no way we could afford to stay in even the cheapest hotel. Not one to give up, I thought "If I could talk to a local resident, maybe they'd know of a place that would be more affordable...even a campground or something"

Since I didn't know anyone there, I turned to the vast network of my church for help. Yes, I called the bishop. He was very nice and after listening to my question, asked if I could call him back the next day. I assumed that he was going to put some information together, maybe phone numbers of some affordable hostel I hadn't found or something.

The next evening when I called, he informed me that a family in the church there had invited us to stay with them. This was completely beyond my expectations. They were terrific. They'd moved to Bermuda from Oklahoma a year or so earlier with their 2 year old son and 14 year old daughter named Tori. Their generosity made it possible for Bunch and I to be on the island, and see Doc whenever he was available. We were so grateful for them!

One day, Doc told me that a classmate of his, who had an interest in marine mammals, had spent a day as a volunteer at Dolphin Quest. You may be familiar with these kinds of operations. Pay $300 for a 40 minute encounter with a dolphin. But his classmate hadn't paid for it. She'd offered her services as a volunteer, and spent an entire day there.

I called them up and said that I'd always been interested in dolphins (which was true), and was in Bermuda "because of the BIOS course on fishes" (which was technically true. I wouldn't have been there if Doc weren't there.) I asked if I could volunteer for a day with them, and they agreed.

Tori was so excited about my big opportunity that I decided to just bring her along with me, in case they'd let her volunteer too. I figured at worst they'd say no and send her home.

We got there the next morning and met the trainers and researchers who work with the dolphins. They told us the rules. Priority One: Under no circumstances were we to make gestures of any kind, or give any commands to the dolphins. If we did, we'd be summarily dismissed, end of story. We promised, and then they set us in front of a truckload of slimy fish that we needed to cut up for the dolphins to eat that day.

Dolphins can eat a LOT of fish!

We happily went through the day, excited to just be there so close to such beautiful animals, making sure not to say or do anything that would interfere and get us booted. When the Dolphin Encounters began, we hung out on the sidelines with the trainers while the tourists lined up for their 40 minutes of interacting with the animals. They stood on platforms submerged 3 feet under water and held hula hoops for the dolphins to jump through. The dolphins squirted, splashed, and kissed them. They did their tricks and dance moves, wowing the crowd. Group by group, the day quickly passed while the dolphins played and worked. Tori and I got to watch every show, and after a while you really start to notice different personality traits of the dolphins. Bailey and Caliban were the names of my personal favorites.

At the end of the day, the tourists were gone, the bay was quiet, and things were winding down for the night. We figured that any moment, they'd tell us it was time for us to leave, when the lead trainer caught us by surprise. "You guys have been great today. Why don't you grab your mask and fins, dive in the lagoon and spend some time with them" he said.

NO WAY!

For the next hour, the fantasy I'd had ever since I read Madeleine L'Engle's A Ring of Endless Light as a young child came true. I held Bailey's fins while she swam me around. The rush of speed was exhilarating! We danced in circles and I had her perform all their tricks I'd seen that day. I held on while she dove down till I couldn't hold my breath any more (which wasn't very far). She gave me "kisses" and I stroked her smooth, soft skin. There's nothing quite like hugging a dolphin you've spent the day with.

Our time finally ended, but the memories are still there. It was one of the most magical days of my life. I ♥ dolphins