Out at assateague about two years ago I had one come up with 4 feet of me. Scared the living sh*t outta me. Had no idea what it was just this big grey thing coming up from the deep. It was one the freakiest expiriences of my life.
If any of you guys know about the penn and teller show called bullsh*t on showtime, they have an episode about "dolphinatics" it is f'n hysterical. Check it out on youtube.
well, when i lived in MD, in OC, I would see dolphins every now and again, but they would stay quite a bit off shore.
In SD, I see them all the time. They are all over. I have some cool video of me paddling around la fonda alone with a school of dolphins. It looks like they jump over my head at one point from the angle of the video...
In mission and PB, they will surf the waves a lot. At blacks they will circle you a lot. On the cliffs they will come up and check you out.
But they never show aggression. And after you get close enough to the dolphins a few times, there is no fear factor anymore. I have had them bump my legs, and they float up to the top, roll on their side and look you right in the eye, They are just curious. That is the only way they can figure out what you are. They didn't think you were food, they were just playing with you basically. They are far smarter than you may think. I have gotten off my board and tried to reach out and touch them, but they are so agile and fast, they move right away...
Ive been paddling out in PB when i notived like 10 dolphins riding a 5 foot beach break wave right at me. I duck dove and expected to get slammed into by a bunch of huge fish. They came right at me, I ducked under and braced, and not one of them even touched me. I felt a lot of water moving, but those things can turn on a dime...
Point is, any large sea creature will freak you out, but if its not something your used to, it can be strange... especially if they take a closer look. But trust me, you will never be bumped off you board and forced under water by a dolphin, and that is really all they can do...
They are cool as a fan.
Up here on the north end in VA Beach, I see dolphins just about every time I surf. And I've ridden a few waves with dolphins.
I remember one time I was out surfing, and the waves were kinda big by VB standards. Probably 5 or 6 feet. Well this bomb set came in, and seriously like a whole pod of dolphins were surfing this thing. I had to duck dive the wave, and I was sure a dolphin was gonna run straight into me. I went under, and could feel these 2 dolphins effortlessly dodge me.
They are agile as hell, and super super smart (hello... echo location). From my experiences with them, I would say that they like surfers, so any time you see some dolphins around DONT BE SCURD!!!
Never shared a wave with one but did see them catch a few while I was out there....the closest encounter came when yak shark fishin at night from the beach. Paddled out, dropped the bait and started to head back in when one jumped right next to the yak...no more then a couple feet away. I nearly had a heart attack.
In the summer you can see hundreds of dolphin around crickets, it's suppose to be a nursery for them, and on bigger swells you can watch them playing in the waves on the shoals, I've seen them riding waves with surfers, even watched one giving birth, and chances are if its rubbing your legs its trying to round up some food,it was most likely a rockfish or a bunker rubbing against you, the dolphin where probably just following the same school of bait fish.
When I was a kid and my dad was a game warden down in the Florida Keys I befriended a dolphin. He was a good pal and even got me outta a few jams, one involving a smuggler. Never saw him get aggressive.
Last edited by Zippy; Sep 17, 2009 at 11:26 PM.
yeah man, i see them all over the place up there. they have never ridden a wave with me but they have popped up close enought to give me a good startle.Originally Posted by BonerSurfs
all of you must of never seen flipper
i haven't ridden any waves with them, but they've come pretty close over at pavilion ave in long branch, i've only seen them a couple times though
one time when i was really little i was swimming in the ocean during the summer and i swam up real close to some but then nonother than the OCBP made me get away.............F***ING buzzkills
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