Heading South on the Lilikoi Dawn
We joined Captain Veto on his boat for Beto’s last swim in Hawaii before flying home.There were only 4 passengers, so we had plenty of room to stretch out and enjoy another sunny day on the sea. For a change of pace, Veto suggested that we motor south to see if we could find & swim with the southern pods. This gave us the option of going out to deep water on the ride home to look for bigger mammals. We hugged the coast, and visited several notable landmarks including ‘End of the World’ Bay, Parrot Bay, and the Amphitheater.
Call of the Manta
There were no dolphin fins to be found near to shore, but we did encounter a lone manta who was approximately 5 ½ feet across. We donned our snorkel gear to determine if the manta wanted human company. I was the first to jump in the water, and was able to get a nice view of the graceful ray. Not wanting to spook him, I finned slowly to the side of him and didn’t follow as he sped in front of the boat.
Capt Veto gave us a water-taxi ride to catch up to the gliding manta, and then Beto & I were able to swim much closer to him for several minutes. I had my long fins on, so was able to pace the animal, pulling even with him and about 3 ft from his wingtip as he flew through the water.
The ray eventually banked and dipped under us in a wide arc, then gradually pulled away from us. Mantas are completely silent and peaceful in the water, and it was a treat to connect with manta-energy, if only for a few moments.
Spotting a Spotted Dolphin
Veto then turned the boat towards deeper waters, and we began looking for whales. The ocean drops off dramatically along the southern coastline, so within minutes we were in 10,000+ ft of water.
We soon approached two long-line fishing boats, who were trolling in the midst of a large & active pod of Pacific Spotted Dolphins! These are known to be fast-moving deeper water dolphins, and they typically have no interest in human swimmers. We were told that we would be lucky to see them rapidly swim by if we entered the water.
Beto borrowed Capt Veto’s long fins, and after the boat sped in front of the pod we splashed into the tansanite-blue ocean. Seconds later, spotted dolphins began zipping past us in small groups. Pacific spotted dolphins have a saddle-back coloration similar to the spinners, but their rostrums are rounder and of course they have large ‘freckles’ (AKA: spots!) on their skin.
Beto took off like a rocket in the long fins… I had to work really hard to keep up, but we were able to engage the interest of a few small groups of dolphins. We swam parallel to them and they repeatedly turned towards us to see who was serenading them (hint: it wasn’t Beto).
We maintained consistent contact with 8 – 10 dolphins who spread out on either side of us for several minutes, while other pod members sped by us. We were kicking hard & moving as fast we could possibly go– so it was an exhilarating encounter. We slowed a bit and the pod moved past us, so Capt Veto picked us up, moved the boat, and put us in for another swim.
This time we swam at a fast but more relaxed, sustainable pace, and another small group of dolphins changed course to swim close & parallel to us, looking us right in the eye. Similar to the first swim, several of the dolphins deliberately turned their heads in a visually distinctive manner to take a look at us. They seemed to like certain sounds (I was making) better than others, and would swim closer to hear sounds that intrigued them.
We had a longer encounter with this group– as other less interested spotted dolphins swim past & around us. It was incredible to see the contrast of the sparkling, spotted dolphins against the gem-like blue background of the deep Pacific. What a thrill!
When the pod outdistanced us and we got back on the boat, Capt Veto told us that he had never witnessed an actual ‘encounter’ with Pacific spotted dolphins. He was surprised and impressed that we were somehow able to attract and hold their attention. We certainly felt fortunate for that rare gift!
Piles of Pilot Whales?
The final treasure of the day involved a few friendly pilot whales. Evidently there have been numerous pilot whales in the vicinity, otherwise described as a ‘pile of whales’. We didn’t find a pile of them, but we were able to enter the water to observe a small family group of 4 pilot whales swimming towards and under us. The group consisted of a large male, two females, and a baby. The baby whale was the size of a large dolphin.
We didn’t stay in the ocean for long after the whales swam by because there was a large oceanic white tip shark following the pod. We jumped in for two additional sightings, and had a close encounter with a female pilot whale who dove directly underneath us. We saw another whale heading underwater from a distance… and called it a day.
Thank you Pele!
We were incredibly blessed to enjoy a plethora of marine life on our four-hour adventure on the Lilikoi Dawn! It seemed that Pele rallied her marine-life allies to give Beto a warm welcome to the Island.
The energies of the animals we encountered were extremely diverse. We cherished our time in the water with the smooth, silent, soaring manta, followed by the zipping, squeaking, swirling speed of the spotted dolphins. Our last encounter was with the heavier, denser and more cautious energy of the pilot whale family. We were grateful to these animals for sharing their varied and marvelous presence with us.
Once we returned to the harbor, I drove Beto straight to the airport for his flight to SF. He most certainly had an abundance of breathtaking memories to savor on the ride home!
Memories of the day can be found here.