I’ve been meaning to edit this video for ages – almost six years in fact! It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to dive with wild dolphins. You may see them on the surface on route to a dive but actually being under the water with them swimming around and near you is a rarity.
We were diving out of Los Gigantes with Riaan’s Scuba. Riaan had an agreement with the local fish farm who allowed him to dive in the vicinity (not beneath) the fish cages just up the coast from Los Gigantes since he had done some work for them in the past. A group of dolphins often hung about in the vicinity of the cages, possibly hoping to catch escapees. Or perhaps feeding on the shoals of wild fish that gobbled up any feed that fell through from above. The sea bed was flat and featureless but there were plenty of Rays – Common, Eagle and Torpedo. There were a few Triggerfish too, one of which took a particular shine to its own reflection in my camera housing. I give them a wider berth these days ever since a Clown Trigger took a dislike to me during a dive at Sipadan in Borneo a couple of years ago!
The dolphins were going about their business and generally keeping their distance, but now and again they would swim past and check us out. There was even a baby dolphin dutifully following its mother around which was very cute. One of the adults caused me to almost fill my wetsuit when it rocketed up in front of me whilst I was busy filming one further in the distance. It’s only when they’re close up that you realise what big animals these actually are. Fortunately the wet suit was a rental one and not my own. 😉
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