27/12/2025
At Christmas, conversations often drift back to old memories. Someone asked me what was one of the coolest things I’d ever done, and this came straight to mind.
A few years ago, I went for an early morning surf in summer. The waves were poor, but the morning was calm and beautiful, so I ended up just walking the shoreline, enjoying the quiet.
Then I noticed something in the water, motionless, watching me.
As I got closer, I realised it was a dolphin. At first, I thought it was in trouble — something looked stuck in its mouth. But when I reached the edge of the water, I saw it was actually a toy: two bottles tied together.
The dolphin swam over and seemed to offer it to me. Without really thinking, I threw it back into the sea. She immediately went after it, brought it back, and waited.
We did this again and again. Sometimes she’d tease me, holding it just out of reach, as if daring me to step in. I never did — nerves won — but she seemed happy to keep playing. We passed the time like that for about 30 minutes, alone in the early morning light.
Eventually she swam off, bored or hungry, I’m not sure.
I’ve surfed with dolphins before, but I’ve never experienced anything like that. A quiet, unexpected, once-in-a-lifetime moment.
I have a video of it too and I’ll share here later.
