Meeting dolphins

To day many people want to meet or to swim with dolphins. I want to give some of my experiences to others who want to meet dolphins.

First of all it is important to be clear with yourself, if you want to meet free dolphins or dolphins in captivity. Please never bye a ticket to a dolphinshow. Let us support one another in acting for the freedom of all dolphins. Of course the choice is yours. My own choice and wish is to meet free dolphins.
The next is to find out if you want to meet a pod of dolphins, or one of the lonely "ambassador" dolphins. There should be around 7 lonely dolphins all over the World, and they specially look for company with humans. To meet one of the lonely dolphins, often gives a possibility to get a closer contact with the dolphin. With a pod of dolphins you can hear the dolphins "speak" together, which is a big experience, and you can experience the dolphins playing, eating or doing other things. Both experiences are great, but very different.

Whatever you want to do, you need to think about equipment, snorkel, mask, fins and perhaps wetsuit dependent of the water being cold or warm. Good snorkel and mask is importent.

I have met dolphins in NORWAY, SINAI, EILAT, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, AZORES, AUSTRALIA, FLORIDA and BAHAMA and Hawaii.
In the following I give a very short introduction to the places where I have met free dolphins.
NORWAY last visit July 2000

Flipper in Norway. He is a very friendly old male, he allows nearly everybody to touch him. He is mostly in Skudeneshavn, (phot left, you see his dorsal fin between the two houses, and the boat behind is one of Flippers "sleepingboats"), Syre or Sandve, tree small harbours with around 5 km between. So you need a car to go around and look for Flipper. Flipper can also "go on holiday". I my self have been in Norway twice without seeing Flipper. The water is rather cold, and a wetsuit is recommended.
Filpper has not been seen since April 2001.
SINAI last visit April 2004.

Oline in Nuweiba, Sinai. A mature female. Since 1996 she have had two male calves, but both died 6 months old. Now she has a female calf, born 1 of October 2000. Oline have close friendship with many of the Bedouins and people who live longer time in Nuweiba. You can stay in small cottages (photo right) just beside the water where Oline is swimming. The water is warm all year round, you don’t need a wetsuit. Since November 2000 Oline and the calf Farshallah are staying different places north and south of Nuweiba.

Oline is dead 9 december 2004. Farshallah is ok.
Flipper on photo left. Oline right above.
IRELAND July 1999

Fungie (photo left) in Dingle, Ireland. An old male, who has been in Dingle since 1983. Fungie is now too lazy to make contact with people in the water, he is only interested in the boats, which sail out with people every day. Fungie jumps a lot and is full of vitality, but he has not close contact with humans any longer.
SCOTLAND April 1999

At Moray Firth (photo to right) close to Inverness in Scotland it is possible to sail out and look at the dolphins, but it is not allowed to swim with them. A Dane called Karl Nirlsen is sailing out with his boat "Benbola".
Phone/Fax: (01542) 832289
AZORES November 1999

At the Azores you can sail out in boats and look at whales, mostly sperm whales and pilot whales. Season is May to October. You can also sail out and look after dolphins, and if you find them you are allowed to swim with them. Only two people in the water for 10 minutes. You find common dolphin, bottlenose and rissos dolphin and more. One boat trip cost around 35 E £. The Atlantic Ocean is cool. A thin wetsuit is recommended.


ORCAS in NORWAY November 2000

About 500 to 600 orcas are living in Westfjorden from October to January. It is close to Narvik on the West Coast of Norway. Herrings are coming to North of Norway around August and in October the herrings go into Westfjorden, and because the orcas are eating herring they are following them.
I was staying 3 days in the bottom of Westfjorden, called Tysfjord. Two times I was sailing out to find orcas. The trips were around 5 hours each time. We saw orca both days, but we were only in the water one day. The water is cold, 4 C degree, and you need a least a 7 mm wetsuit. It is beyond description to look at on orca in the water just under me.
Anyhow I can recommend more than 3 days, because it is only light between 9 and 14 o’clock, and the nature is fantastic, so you also need time to look around on land.
The dorsal fin behind is the male, the smaller and more curved fin in front is the female.

On the following pages you can read about the dolphins I met in Austarlia, Florida, Bahama and Hawaii.

To travel out and swim with dolphins is rather demanding, but also very rich. The dolphins first of all teach me ACCEPT, RESPECT, JOY and PRESENCE.

Weather you believe it or not, there is an effect of swimming with dolphins. Both experience and scintific examination proof that. What many people tell after swimming with dolphins, is a feeling of total accept. And meeting dolphins have been a turning point for many people with a depression. Physical pain can also disappear from hours to days after meeting with dolphins. Dolphins are able to use their sonar system in a very advanced way, and the sonar used on human can supposedly cause physical changes in the human body.

My wish is, that dolphinpeople all over the world support each other and in this way more and more people will learn to love dolphins and live in the "dolphinway", which for me is "living from the heart", and in that way treat both animal, human and nature with honesty, acceptance, responsibility, respect and love.