Dolphins Playing With Surfers

Yes, it happens. I had only heard about people having dolphins really make contact with them while surfing and had never experienced it first hand (in spite of how much time I've spent in the water). I don't mean just swimming by. That has happened to me plenty of times. I've watched pods of dolphins swim underneath me. Dolphins have "dropped in" on people that I was surfing with. I see them out in the distance feeding, playing, and just swimming by.

This morning was different. It started out like many other mornings. Walking out to the shore, I carry my board to the edge of the water. Next I stretch and put the leash around my ankle. I look up and see a pod of dolphins feeding out in the distance. They seem to be feeding because you can see them circling around one area and stirring up the water quite a bit. Every so often, one or two jump out of the water and chase each other. They seemed to be having fun.

I was sitting on my board in the lineup (well, there was only me and one other guy out there) looking at the swell and waiting for my set. Out of nowhere I felt a THUMP on the back of my board and looked back to see what it was. Just then, one of the dolphins jumped out of the water.

Yeah, it startled me. That would startle anyone.

Next they circled me and the one other surfer in the water. It was as if they wanted to play with us. They eventually lost interest and went back out farther and then headed south.

It was pretty awesome.