Zippy Spinners

Spinner Dolphins in the waters off Hawaii

In Hawaii, it’s illegal to be within 50 yards of dolphins in the water. The idea is to give them space to carry on with their normal activities without being influenced or pressured by humans.

However, during my last swim a few days ago, I was startled to see a pod of Spinner Dolphins zoom into view and pass by just a few feet away. Short of having access to Star Trek’s transporter, there was no way in the world I was going to be able to put 50 yards between me and the dolphins before they put several hundred yards between them and me. I had time enough to realize my camera had gone into sleep mode, wake it up, and get blurry shots of the disappearing dolphins. Regardless of the photos, it’s always nice to see dolphins and it had been quite a while since I’d done so in the water.

Spinner Dolphins in the waters off Hawaii

A few minutes later another small pod went by, also at speed, also with no good photo opportunity. A third pod followed with even less chance of a decent photo. But then I saw a fourth pod approaching at a slightly more leisurely pace and managed to get a few photos as they cruised by. Most of my photos weren’t up to much, but I was very happy that these two came out better than I had hoped for. Definitely the highlight of the weekend for me.

10 thoughts on “Zippy Spinners”

  2. kzmcb's avatarkzmcb

    They are great photos, Graham. We have laws about distance from dolphins here, too. I think it’s 100m and the fines are huge. Trouble is, they’re curious creatures and often come right up to your kayak or start trying to take your ball if you’re playing in the water. But we keep our hands down and try to stay still.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      The laws are mainly to stop tour boats and swimmers from pursuing the dolphins, disturbing their sleep, which they get while still swimming around! The one I see here are generally on the way to their resting spots, hence the zipping by.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      The motivation behind the laws was to prevent ‘dolphin boat tours’ from dumping swimmers into the water next to the dolphins, and to stop swimmers from pursuing them. The main issue being that, during the day, dolphins find spots on the coast to sleep, even though they keep swimming during that time. But too many people around disturbs that sleep and is detrimental to them.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.