Swimming with Dolphin

By Bill Lauritze

Santa Monica, California, 2008

It was a hot and hazy day at the beach when I got there. The
American ag lazily wafted in the breeze from the lifeguard tower. The
water had been unusually warm, above 72: almost Hawaiian. The
sparse clouds were high and cottony. I stripped off my clothes and put
on my swimsuit under my large beach towel. I applied some
sunscreen to my nose, cheeks, and shoulders. I tted my red cap onto
my head. The red color makes it easier for the lifeguards and boats to
see me.
The usual stay-at-home moms were putting sunscreen on their
kids, a few retired people were reading the paper, and several people
were body sur ng. Most surfers had left already, as the rising wind
was making the waves rough. Brightly colored beach umbrellas stood
in front of the vast blue ocean, which stretched out before me, circling
all the way round to Hawaii and then Japan.
It usually gets kind of lonely swimming in the ocean, mostly just
pelicans and seagulls and a very occasional sea lion popping their
head up, but this day would be different. I jogged very slowly south for
about a mile to the breakwater. I now had a nice swim long swim to
Santa Monica pier of about two miles, and then back south for another
mile to where I started.
I told the lifeguard in the tower by the breakwater, that I was
going to swim around the rocks and then on to the pier. He said that
they didn't really like people swimming around the rocks because they
couldn't see the person. I said I would swim out a bit, so he could see
me, and he said OK.  
When I swam behind the rocks, a lone pelican glided by, very
low over the water. Suddenly, I noticed the n of a dolphin. I put my
head underwater and made a feeble attempt at a dolphin squeal. To
them I probably sounded like a dog trying to speak English. However,
to my delight a hi-pitched “Ziiiiiip” (getting higher as it progressed)
came immediately back at me.

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 I now saw several more in the pod, maybe eight or ten all
together. These dolphins had been back in the area for a couple of
weeks now, and I had had several glimpses of them, and here I was in
their midst.
They were heading the same direction I was. Although
sometimes they move really fast, today they were kind of lolligagging
along, as they sometimes do. I decided to see how long I could stay
with them. I thought even ve minutes would be extraordinary.
It is exhilarating to hear them breathing when they come to the
surface. I was able to match their pace, which was just slightly slower
than my usual pace, so sometimes I would do breaststroke and just
observe them. I keep a respectable distance from them at rst, about
ve yards, as I didn't want to spook them. However, as we progressed
up the beach, I think they got use to me, and I got used to them, and I
moved closer. I kept waiting for them to split off from me but it didn’t
happen. We just kept swimming along the beach together, and now I
was only a couple yards from two of them. I saw about ten people
lined up on the beach watching us go by
After about fteen minutes, I swam suddenly and unexpectedly
into a loose kelp bed. I had to stop and swim around it. Suddenly two
dolphins darted right past me, crosswise, only about two feet away.
Younger ones, I thought.
But where were the rest? They had disappeared. I looked back
and saw them at the kept bed, checking something out underwater?
Feeding on some sh? Or just curious? I waited, thinking that this was
the end of our journey together, but soon the dolphins were heading
north again and I along with them.
While breathing to my side, I tried to see some difference
between the various dolphins, but they all looked the same to me.
Except perhaps some were slightly bigger. And some seemed more
frisky, swimming off on their own once in awhile.
I had been swimming alongside what I thought were the two
oldest ones, as they seemed to keep the most steady pace. They
were on my right with a couple of others, while a few were on my left.
After careful scrutiny, I noticed that the n on one of them was
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 distinctly different that the others--sort of with a little curve or hook in

it, but that was the best I could do to tell them apart
Now we glided by a group of about ve surfers just sitting on
their boards. The dolphins graceful up and down, rhythmic motion,
was almost hypnotizing in its beauty. The surfers pointed at us as we
went past.
With each breath I took in the scene around me. The sand, the
houses and apartment buildings along the beach, the pale blue sky,
the murky blue water, and of course the dolphins. Every so often I
would hear them squealing to each other and I would chirp in, which
sounded to me like a horrible rendition of their speech.
Then suddenly one of the dolphins to my right came completely
out of the water and slapped its tail rather violently on the surface and
then repeated this three times. I thought it might be a signal of some
kind to the others, and I waited expectantly for several minutes but
nothing changed
I kept waiting for the lifeguard boat to show up and say
something to me though their megaphone about not harassing the
local indigenous species, but it never happened. Later, when I told one
of them about swimming my adventure, he thought it was “very cool.”
Suddenly, my friend Michael appeared in front of me. “Come on,”
I said. Michael is not as strong a swimmer as me, but he fell into
formation just behind me. I worried about how the dolphins would
react to this new swimmer. Would they now take off? But nothing
changed.
I ipped over and swam backstroke. I could now see the four
dolphins to my left, toward the shore, coming slowly out of the water,
breathing, pssshhhh, and then rolling down again. All synchronized
together now. About four more dolphins were to my right, while
Michael was about ten yards behind me. It must have been quite a
formation we made. Michael suddenly stopped, and so I stopped too.
He said he was getting tired, but added, “This is too good to leave!”
Suddenly I heard another loud Ziiiiiip! I stopped and so did
Michael. He shouted, “A couple just swam right past you!” Must have
been the same frisky ones as earlier. I can’t keep up with these
teenagers, I think to myself
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 Back to rhythmic swimming with the older ones. After a while I

noticed Michael was no longer behind me. Meanwhile the dolphins
and I were all headed straight into the pier
I veered off toward the tip of the pier but none followed me. So I
followed them, trusting their dolphin sense of their whereabouts.
Then, a minute later, they all veered toward the tip. As we approached
the it, they all just disappeared, completely! I called in my best
underwater dolphin squeal. I looked all about for about ve minutes. I
had swam with them for an hour and three minutes by my watch!
I started swimming back, wondering if all my communication and
bonding with them was just my imagination. I was getting cold and
tired now and just wanted to get back. I missed my dolphin friends, but
I swam now furiously trying to stay warm. After about ten minutes,
quite loud and clear, I heard the loud familiar Ziiiiiip again! I burst out
laughing, and stopped.
Behind me, about fteen yards away, were several of them. Just
sort of circling. Did they want me to follow them north of the pier? Or
were they curious about what had happened to me? My hands were
now all wrinkled, and I was tired. I swam back to Tower 26 and
trudged out onto the sand.

Bill Lauritze
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