Chapter 38: Day two at sea
Chapter 38: Types of Dolphins
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
So, I now complete this marine mammal cycle this week with the Costa Rica trip to socialize not with whales but with dolphins. Spinner dolphins, here in great numbers, are one of 42 dolphin species—and 7 species of porpoise.
Dolphins, whose tails move up and down when swimming (unlike fish whose tails move from side to side) are members of one of six families. The oceanic family is the largest with 38 members while river dolphins are divided into four families—one of which I got to hang out with back in 2018—pink river dolphins in the Pantanal of Brazil.
This species conversation can get confusing. There are eight dolphin types that feature the word “whale,” among them killer whales (orca—the largest), false killer whales and melon-headed whales. Don’t forget about the northern and southern right whale dolphins.
All of them have one thing in common: they are mammals. The must surface to breathe air or they will drown. They give birth to live young whom they nurse with mother’s milk for, on average 1 to 2 years with rich and fatty milk that supports rapid growth of the baby. As soon as the baby is weened, the female mates and 11 months later give birth again. These dolphins have a life span or around twenty years. They’re promiscuous with multiple males mating with a single female.
They’ve all got streamlined, smooth, “belly buttons” where the umbilical cord detached.
They dine on crustaceans, squid and fish. Even though they have conical-shaped teeth (up to 240 in the mouths of these spinners) they don’t chew their food before swallowing. They might break it into smaller pieces, however, much to the delight of pelicans who follow along for their table scraps.
These are spinner dolphins (longirostris—Latin for “long beak”), the most acrobatic of aquatic creatures. They are about my size in both their length to my height and in weight. Their pods are highly visible and, when feeding, are a useful if dangerous indicator of schools of tuna which gets the attention of fishing fleets. One early estimate was that over one million spinners were killed in conflict with fishing fleets. New protective practices have improved that horrible statistic.
While spinners are plentiful, sometimes covering up to four acres of water surface in a superpod, one dolphin species, the Maui’s dolphin, native to New Zealand and not Hawaii, has fewer than 50 remaining individuals. Their mortality rate is attributed to fishing set-net, driftnet and trawling. Oh, and cat poop. Toxoplasma gondii exists exclusively in cat feces and can sexually reproduce. These parasites find their way through freshwater runoff into the ocean and accumulate in the food chain causing behavior change, stillbirth and death in Maui dolphins. New Zealanders are actively debating what to do about this.
I was the last one up. From my V-Berth in the bow, I heard all the racket overhead of the sea anchor being recovered, the engine fired up and the occasional inadvertent slam of a door when my shipmates made their way up top to consume chef Oscar’s scramble eggs or a bow of cereal. I’m not a breakfast guy.
Finally joining the group, I see that we are in the middle of a superpod. Two thousand by Patrick’s estimate with no fishing boats and nothing about to distract either them or us.
We all gather the scooters which have been charging and transfer to Valencia. Two at a time we go. When it is my turn, I am soon in the midst of a hundred tuna. Then, quickly, I am where I am supposed to be, surrounded by six-foot Costa Rican Spinner Dolphins—all wondering what in the world is this old man doing on that crazy device. They swooped around me, beneath me, zipping ahead of me. Had I been able to release the hand holds on my scooter, I could have easily reached out to touch them. I thought one or more would brush up against me but they never did.
The body of a dolphin, up that close, reveals a bit or its history. There are scars on the sides of their bodies caused by I know not what. Otherwise they are duplicates of each other.
I am not the best SeaBob operator. The other guys are all faster to master these devices. No matter. I am not here to compete, outlast or outdo. I am here, knowing my age-mandated limitations and enjoying what I have been given. They are all dolphin alcoholics, not able to stop at just one encounter. Me? I have to convince them that I am happy with what I have been given—please, I say, take my turn on the scooter; I am fine. My chief fear is that I will overdo it, not a good thing for me to do.
From Kiki I my view of this amazing convention of sea mammals is not only thrilling, it is emotionally calming. After this morning’s adrenalin rush, I am more voyeur than thrill-seeker and happy to play that part.
Late afternoon, it was time for me to try another run. Patrick and I took off in a very light chop for the pod. I did well above the surface on a higher speed to reach them but I again had trouble diving down to meet them on their own turf. I have somehow managed to bruise my sternum on the scooter and so I am favoring that which, I am making excuses here, throws off my balance a bit. Getting your head and mask down in the water is mandatory to get maximum impact from this activity and I am, sad to say, not very good at it.
Everyone is very accommodating to the abuelo aboard. "You're 76, man. Shit; you're doing great." Well, yes. But I don't want to be doing great for a 76-year old. I want to be doing this activity like these other guys. The reality is that they are thirty or more years my junior. So, I say, "Face it, Paul. Your time competing with that has ended. Be satisfied with less. Do what you can but don't over do reaching for what you can't."
Am I disappointed? A bit? No. I am a realist about aging. I am getting what I came for if only for a little less than what I once could achieve. Patrick said, "My dad is 75 and he's not out here. He's on the couch." I'm not quite ready to join Patrick's dad but I sure as hell can't keep up with Patrick's dad's son.
I have video to share but that will have to wait for when we have more bandwidth.
