BEST DAY!!

So dolphin research has started back up! woo! Well, it started, and now it's over cause the fall season is really short. So I was only on three days before the season was over. They were the best three days of dolphin research I've done.

Day 1 - I watched two stingrays play tag with each other. They looked like they were having a royal good time. It was really cool. Then, later in the day I watched an eagle ray leap out of the water two times in a row! He lept out of the water, and flapped his wings, like he wanted to fly out of water rather than in it. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It was very nice he did it twice in a row so I could see it a second time for a better look. (They will do this to escape from sharks, or to remove remoras. There were no sharks around so I'm guessing he was being annoyed by some cleaner fish.)

Day 2 - A pod of 96 dolphins showed up. Enough said... ha ha We watched them come right into the beach and spend the afternoon surfing. The waves were black with dolphins it was incredible. The surfers down at that beach were so lucky! It was sets and sets of dolphins rather than waves. So beautiful.

Day 3 (the best) - So today, tuesday, I thought would just be a normal day up at the lighthouse watching dolphins. Not so. I was out in the kayak today. it was a perfect day, low swell, hardly any wind, crystal clear water, we're talking 30 m. visibility clear! So it started out with me and Peta actually trying to get in the kayak. The process involved us tipping the kayak several times, and both of us loosing our swimmers and mooning the 20 people on the beach several times as well. We had a good laugh. We got out and it was a gorgeous day, the most perfect weather. We got a call from the lighthouse saying we had a pod heading over. We followed them for about an hour. The best part was right at the end, we were iddeling, and the pod turned around and came RIGHT AT US! We just held out breathe and tried to hold the camera steady. They swam right underneath the kayak, and right next to us. The dolphins were so close we could have touched them. They were popping up and staring at us, you could see them focusing on us, it was amazing! The video camera I was using is water proof, so I stuck it underwater and got sound recordings! you could hear them talking to each other, it was amazing! They are so beautiful up close! I love the sound they make with their blow hole when they come up to breathe, ah, I just can't even explain how incredible they are. There are not enough words to describe them, or they way they make me feel, especially when they are inches away.

After dolphin research was done, I went out for a little snorkel at the reef right next to the pass. What's amazing is that the pass is only known for surfing, no one even knows about the reef right there that is full of amazing marine life. Within 5 minutes of being out there, I saw a catskill shark, about 2 ft long. I have never seen one in real life, and it was beautiful (don't worry mom, they eat small shellfish, squid, etc, they don't really have teeth). Then, right after him there was a small silver reef shark about 1 m. long hiding out in a little over hang. He was gorgeous, with long sweeping fins, and beautiful silver lines. A juvenile green sea turtle came over to say hello, along with a school of about 200 yellow diamond fish. I could stay there all day, once again, words cannot even describe, the more i try, the more ridiculous I will sound haha

Just know, the ocean is an amazing place. It deserves to be protected and loved! To all those who don't have any exposure to it, make is part of your life. If you have never seen the ocean, put it on your bucket list. Any ocean will do.