The whole reason I wanted to start surfing was because a few months prior from the time I picked up the sport, I had seen some lucky chap out on the backline, surrounded by dolphins. How I wished that were me, sitting in those calm waters as these mystical little sea creatures swished around in the water beside him. He seemed like he had achieves some sort of oceanic spiritual enlightenment, with all these sacred sea animals surrounding him. In total peaceful bliss.
Today, when Id finally managed to get myself out to the backline, sitting there waiting for a wave, someone called out “ what’s that thing that just popped out the water?”. I remember all the thoughts that went through my head, ranging from a flying fish to a rogue acrobatic shark. It was only when I saw the large curved dorsal fin crest the grey ripping waters that the thought of dolphins pierced my mind. Dolphins! I was beyond ecstatic, my mouth hanging open the entire time as a pod of approximately forty to fifty dolphins swam by. I was a mere half a hundred meters away from the closest one, watching as they drifted along, swiftly and calmly, barely breaking water or making a splash. Just there, sharing the backline waves with the surfers, all in trancing peace and synchronicity, as if it were the most natural thing, as if us humans weren’t embarking on their realm.
I couldn’t do anything but erupt in girlish giggles and stare at them with an open mouth, drifting down the beach as the current tugged me along with the dolphins. It was only when I was pulled back to reality by a fellow surfer who beckoned me to paddle back towards the rocks did I realise I had been floating along with the dolphins, just floating, all while they surfed the waves and glided along the top of the water, like sacred beings of the ocean.
I feel privileged enough to have witnessed that, and hope for many more dolphin filled surfs in the future.
The Water Walking Vagabond 