Bottlenose dolphins grow to a length of 2.8 metres. They weigh up to 230 kilograms and can travel at a speed of 32 kilometres per hour. We'd been told of a place not far from West End where they supposedly live in harmony behind a wire fence, or cage. Elenka, Judka and I decided to conduct our own animal welfare investigation. 
 
When we arrived at the site we hid, camouflaged near a mangrove, and watched as a dozen or so humans fed the dolphins from atop an approximately one metre wide perimeter, wall/fence - the enclosure sits about half a metre above the water line. When the feeders, or guards as I'd come to call them, were fully occupied, the three of us slid into the water and quietly snorkelled toward the dolphin prison.   
   
As we neared the compound a guard shouted, "Stop! Go no closer to the enclosure. It is not permitted."
We back-finned and swam along the perimeter, maybe 3 metres away from the no-go zone. Suddenly, in open sea, a dolphin, mouth wide-open, teeth exposed, came at Elenka from the right. Alarmed, she pulled her arms close to her body just as the dolphin whooshed behind her, bumping her right side before making a quick turn and bumping her left side. The creature then turned in a Flipper-like motion and bumped Judka. I was maybe 10 metres away and saw none of this. However, as I swam in a general direction toward the gals I felt an odd sensation just as a dolphin sped past, no more than a couple of centimetres from my right shoulder. It might well have felt the same if I'd unknowingly stood too close to a railway track as a bullet-train shot by. I almost lost my bowels. 
 
When I reached Elenka and Judka they were talking to one of the guards who was standing atop the compound wall:
"There are a couple of dolphins swimming around with you. One of them is a male and he can be frisky."
"Wwhat does that mean?" I said.
"Well he might bump into you with his nose or grab your leg or arm in his mouth. If that happens don't pull away quickly or his teeth will cut you." 
We thanked the man and started heading shakily for shore just as "Frisky" made one more pass off Elenka's bow. 
 
After reaching the shore we sat mesmerized as the dolphins ate and played. These guys were jumping better than three metres straight up out of the water. So in reality, jumping out of the compound wouldn't be at all difficult for them - like me stepping over a curb. Dolphins are social creatures that most certainly leave and return at their pleasure. The term, "social creatures", I'd read in books and on various Internet sites. I was soon to learn what this term really meant.  
 
When I went to the dive shop the following morning and told the divemaster of our dolphin encounter she told me that you have to watch out for dolphins, that they can get pretty horny. I felt my chin bang against my chest. The bumping meant that Frisky was straight; he'd bumped Elenka and Judka, but not me. Why would they ever leave the compound with all the available action going on inside? But shouldn't we humans be just a little concerned as to why dolphins like Frisky have chosen an alternate species approach to satisfying their inner-most desires?   


Watching the days go by:
 
There are no fewer than 17 dive shops on the one kilometre stretch of West End. I've been getting out for dives once a year over the past five or six years, doing a dozen or so on each stint. Each year I start out like a fish with a missing fin, but after seven or eight dives I'm Señor Scuba again. I went out to sea the other day proud at being able to begin my 100th career dive. As I approached the launch platform I stepped on my opposite fin, lost my balance and face-flopped into the sea. Everyone had a good chuckle, especially the young couple who were doing their first ever dive.

 
According to the www 150 people die annually after getting bonked on the head by coconuts falling from trees, while only 15 die by shark. We were walking from the beach restaurant area at Posada Arco Iris when a falling coconut missed my frontal lobe by a hair. Later that evening, I double-skunked Elenka in a game of cribbage, for the first time in probably 5,000 games.

 

Judka flew back to Toronto on Monday. She stayed the night at our house with Harley our cat, before proceeding onward to her home in Almonte, Ontario. You'd be surprised by the number of Americans who know of tiny Almonte. It's where the guy who invented basketball is from - James, something or other.