Last Thursday in between dives, a pod of dolphins tried to beach themselves. At first I was out swimming with them, unaware of what was about to happen, but as they got closer in and in shallower water, the scene changed. I took what little footage I could of the event while helping to pull the dolphins out and directing them deeper. Oddly enough, I felt guilty for filming what I did as it meant I was not helping while doing so, however the video spread quickly and is being used by a number of dolphin rescue teams from America, Antigua and here in Barbados. It has helped the experts to identify the type of dolphin and witness the behavior in theorizing, what might have caused such an event. As a result, I have been kept in the loop of emails and able to learn quite a bit about dolphins throughout the process. Apparently this is a concern because it has been happening a lot in the States this year, the most since 1978 when a virus broke out among them. Here are a few links to the articles I have been sent:
Here is the video I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5nEdl8ddbM
With over 17,000 views, the video has also been on the news in 8 American States and viewed by many people here on the island. The other day I was chatting with this little boy who sells things along the beach and he asked if I was the one who took the dolphin video. I told him I had and he replied - You got us on American news! with a big smile. I find it ironic that I put so many hours into my other videos and literally threw this one together within 10 minutes and it has more viewers than any of my other videos combined. An irony of life I guess.
Here is a clip from the news, Right this Minute:
Anyways, I have been asked to write an account of what happened so many times, I have taken to copying and pasting the following story
This happened in Carlisle Bay, which is a south/west beach in Barbados. We had just come in from a dive only moments before they were noticed and they were no where to be seen prior to, so they came close in quite quickly just after 11 am. They were swimming among the boats, which drew the attention of many along the beach, including, a number of boats. The Carlisle Marine Park is only about 50 meters away from where this happened, so a number of tourist boats (sail boats, snorkeling) came over. I would estimate that there were close to 30 dolphins. One had a torn dorsal fin, and another was bleeding. There were many small dolphins (maybe 7-8).
At first, I grabbed my snorkeling equipment to go and snorkel with them because I had no idea they were going to head for the beach. I am not sure anyone thought they would. I was snorkeling with them for about 5 minutes when it became apparent that they were heading into shallower water. Again, I did not think they would go for the beach, I guess maybe because I have never experienced this before. I would say, I was swimming with them for approximately 10 minutes when it became apparent that they were heading straight for the beach. Swimmers closer to shore started to react, and that was when we (myself and others from The Dive Shop Ltd.) went in. Being divers, we were lucky that the staff, as well as the customers we were with, were all good swimmers.
We went in and it was great to see how everyone was working together. A local lifeguard was directing everyone to grab their tales and pull them back out. I pulled out a number of dolphins, but they kept heading back for the beach. At one point I pulled a baby dolphin out quite far and when I let go it didn't move and I was really worried. I remember staring at it and hollering out to a fellow diver, but it did eventually come to and headed further out. It seemed to be alright after that and had no obvious injuries.
We were on the beach for at least 5 minutes, with I would estimate 15 bystanders and approximately 10 of us pulling, pushing and carrying the dolphins out. When they were in a few feet of water, the local lifeguard began to yell at another dive boat to move out, so that we could clear the way and for all those in the water to form a line to keep them moving outwards. It went back and forth. First they seemed to move with little effort, and you can see in the video that we were laughing, relieved and enjoying the experience, but then they turned back and we had to regroup. They didn't get back to the beach, but they did seem adamant about doing so. Finally, we had them back on path and we directed as far as we could.
One of our Dive Masters David Hutson, swam with them ensuring that they were all out of harms way and not returning before accepting a ride back from a kayaker. I asked him how far he would estimate he swam (with about 5 others), and he replied, "as far as we could. Well past the boats"
We returned to the beach and kept an eye out from the shop for several hours to ensure they didn't come back in. Approximately 4 hours later we heard from a coast guard that the pod had been sighted 3 miles off the coast, moving deeper. Without any reports on tonight's news, I am pretty sure they did not return to another beach.
No one seemed to know why this happened, beyond a prediction that one was hurt and the others followed. It was a mixed bag of emotions, excitement, worry and then relief. Reflecting back, it was a beautiful display of how so many came together and helped. I can recall hearing at least 3 different European accents, I was out there with a Scotish Dive Master, a St. Lucian and a local. Myself being Canadian. So it was nice to see how we all came together and helped these confused little dolphins. That being said, I think we were all very relieved to see them so far out when they returned to the sea.
In the video, John Moore, from The Dive Shop, was pulling out the dolphin from the beach. From start to finish. I would estimate I was back on the beach within 45 minutes of first leaving the shop (after they were back out deep). Time on the beach pulling them off seemed quite long, but it was probably just longer than 5 minutes.
A rare and exciting experience after they were all back out. It is never a dull moment at the dive shop. Turtle hatching two weeks ago, dolphin rescue last week. With one more week in Barbados, I wonder what will be next!
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