Dolphins

Most people I know have a bucket list.  An ongoing, ever-changing list of things they've always wanted to do, thought would be cool, goals or hopes.  Mine is constantly evolving.  I recently took things off the list, added some new ones and (in light of recent events) decided it was time to start marking "DONE" next to a few.

I started with "swim with dolphins".

There are several places in the western US that you can do this.  You can pay an insane amount to do it in Vegas.  You can fly to Hawaii (ok, twist my arm) or California.  I opted for Six Flags in Vallejo, CA.  They have an amusement park and animal exhibits there just north of San Francisco.  

The plan was to fly into SFO in the early (up at 3, flight at 6) Monday morning, drive, swim, drive and fly out to Vegas that afternoon.  The plan was made better by Auntie Lynda joining the fun!  She picked me up at the airport, drove us to the park and swam with me.  She also may have had dimsum in the car for me.  I love her so.  

We got there early (because I have excellent driving powers) and sat in front of the classroom (you have to learn before swimming) and talked.  It was cloudy and warm and quiet.  The park was closed for the week.  That made me so happy because we didn't have to hear the rides, deal with the people, or having a parking nightmare.  

There was a van that pulled up, the driver got out, looked around and said, "When does the park open?" I said,"Uh, Saturday." He was angry and disappointed and had just driven from Portland to go to the park.  Internet, dude, it's there for more than porn these days.

We kept waiting and waiting for the rest of our class to show up.  The class size could be as large as 12 people - 4 to a dolphin.  It also, apparently, could be as small as 2 people.  No one else showed up.  It was just me and Auntie Lynda with six dolphins.  How cool is that??

We got to learn all about dolphins before we changed into wetsuits and got in the water.  How smart they are, how resilient they are, how the are born.  What kind of conditions are best for which animal.  We got to see a birth video from one of the dolphins named Chelsea, who they call SuperMom.  She has had 7 babies there.  All boys.  

One big hindrance about my wanting to swim with dolphins was my worries about their care and quality of life.  Are they happy?  Do you have good doctors?  Do they have a good life?  How do you know?

The trainers were well versed in their responses. (duh)  They don't want to anthropomorphize the animals (they have many that live at the park).  But the dolphins are not stressed.  The marine biologists and trainers that work, play and care for the animals can do tests to see how the animals are doing.  They are very expressive, much like humans, and you can tell if they are sad or depressed, angry or nervous.    

They are well-fed (fish and jello supplement that they love to help with their hydration) and learn quickly.  They live in 6 large pools in families that work best for the individual personalities.  All the boys in one location, all the girls in another.  

All the dolphins at the park were born in captivity (the current youngest is 7 years).  When they get older (the oldest is 34 years), they are retired from the show and the public (two a day max) and get to swim with small groups of (super fantastic) people and show off their skills.  They aren't ever put down and live out their lives in the park.  

I got the feeling that the animal exhibit and the park were very separate.  The money paid for the swimming goes to animal care, not the park.  The trainers seemed to really care for the animals.  They could tell us their names and personalities just from glancing at them.  They knew the little differences in them with ease.  It was so cool to see.  They were healthy and playful.

This was something I've always wanted to do but even I was surprised by how excited I was.  Just walking past the pool to get our wetsuits had me jumping up and down.  

I couldn't stop smiling.  My face hurt after two hours of grinning because I couldn't stop smiling.

We got to sit in the pool and touch Maddie the dolphin's teeth, her skin, her flippers (do NOT touch them below the waist) and feed her fish.  She did tricks and jumped around.  We met Chelsea, the SuperMom.  She was beautiful and had very kind eyes.  We met Bella briefly.  She was the youngest and didn't have any manners yet.  She hovered around for fish like an awkward party-goer you wish would just join in or leave.   

The whole time we were there two photographers followed us around.  Pictures of everything.  

We were tricked into getting splashed.

Hold on but not too tight.

So, so cool.

Cheese!

There were about 30 pictures of me with various dolphins and I have the same smile in each one.  I am so glad I went.  It was awesome.  I still grin when I think about my day with the dolphins.