Dolphin Diary 131212

Dolphin Diary 131212, a set on Flickr.

We located a dolphin swim boat up in Malongane who had found a pod of dolphins hugging the coastline. Initially we thought that little or no data or interaction would be gained as they had already had a boat and possible swimmers with them before. Once the other boat moved off we cruised slowly hoping that they may just come out for a quick hello in order for us to see who was there.
That they did and the hello was far from quick.
Slipping in and bobbing about, we were approached by a small group of our dolfriends who splintered from the main resting pod. Kit was first on the scene who arrived with little boy Gandolf, son to Gilly. At fist I was intrigued as to who the little one was, then I noticed the leading edge nick, mom came thorough a couple of minutes later, whisking him off after his guided visit to the humans with Kit. Rocha AKA Thai joined in the bout of conscious interaction as did adult male Gaza and another male. Some 10 minutes later we all emerged from the water with big smiles and dolphin chatter!
Our second session found a high concentration of our finned frinds who were milling and resting in Malongane Bay. Gilly and Gandolf were once again re-sighted with the large pod of some 20 dolphins that included a number of moms and their offspring. It was great to see Lady again up close - she is going to loose the tip of that dorsal fin eventually. Gandolf, Gilly and Rocha aka Thai came in for a quick hello and I was interested to notice the pec petting that followed by Gilly after Gandolf returned to her side after a circle swim with the camera! I noticed the same petting on the first launch given by Kit to Gandolf after he was allowed to be in close proximity to me filming.