Tuesday, 5 April 2016

D IS FOR DOLPHIN : A-Z Challenge

Welcome to Day 4 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:


'Wildlife Encounters'

The dive site in Egypt's Red Sea was called 'Dolphin House'. We listened to the dive briefing with mounting excitement.

“If you see the dolphins, you have to work to attract their attention and curiosity.  If you want them to engage with you, turn somersaults, bounce around, and make a lot of noise. Loud squeaking usually works.”

We slipped into the balmy water and descended into the channel where the dolphins were supposed to visit. Nothing. We hung around for a while before finally giving up and continuing our exploration along the reef.


We were given a second chance to dive the same site. I was resigned to not seeing dolphins this time. I certainly wasn’t going to waste my time hanging around for them. 

In we dropped again and began to explore the reef.




My husband found some gorgeous corals topped by an explosion of colourful anthias dipping and flitting around the corals. 

So there we were, heads down, examining our find when I casually glanced up. 

Dolphins! Right behind us! I grabbed my husband’s arm and pointed. 

I somersaulted. I bounced up and down. I squeaked. I squealed. I screamed. I wiggled my outstretched fingers at them.




The dolphins looked briefly at the noisy, madly gesticulating creature and swam away.



See you tomorrow - I'll be heading south this time. Can you guess where and what the next animal will be?


If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE

39 comments:

  1. I love dolphins and movies with dolphins... never saw one but I hope I will! I think E might be for elephant? Best regards!

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    1. Lovely animals, aren't they, Zeljka? This was the first time seeing them properly underwater... just wish they'd stayed to play with me.
      Good guess - hope you'll pop in tomorrow to see if you're right. :)

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  2. Gosh... you really got me there!! Moved so far east you fell into the sea. Not any old sea... the Red Sea!! Must have been very special, I envy you.
    South? OK... Africa nd the Elephant would be my guess then... ;-)

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    1. That may be a bit obvious... how about eland?

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  3. I try to fall into the sea as often as possible. Yes, it was a very special experience. :)
    Elephant or eland? The only clue I'll give is that I have seen both animals... will one of these be the featured one though?

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  4. You were too excited. Love it. Sorry they didn't play with you! But what lovely pictures!
    http://skye-writing.fiona-skye.com/2016/04/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-day-three-c-and-a-wee-giveaway/

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    1. I was... way too excited, Yolanda. Yes, it was a shame they didn't want to play with me, but when you're in a wild animal's environment you have to play by their rules, and it was still a brilliant experience. :)

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  5. It's nice you got to see them in their natural habitat. Although it's wonderful to see dolphins in the wild, humans have to remember, they ARE wild animals and as friendly as they usually are, they can be dangerous.

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    1. Absolutely, Bish. I was surprised at how big they were too!

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  6. They were curious to see what was interesting you! How can you scream with your mouth full of breathing tube?

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    1. Dolphins are intelligent and certainly curious. How could I scream? I screamed through my mouthpiece. :)

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  7. Wow! What an exciting dive! I find it interesting that the dolphins need lots of energy to engage them. Very cute!

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    1. Making lots of movement and noise is apparently the only way you stand a chance of them engaging with you, Karen. It was the same when I snorkelled with dolphins in New Zealand. :)

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  8. Maybe they were afraid you were contagious! :-) Just joking. Dolphins have probably learned to be wary of humans ... with just cause sadly.

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  9. According to the dive guide, the dolphins will interact with divers only if they feel like it. If they're on a hunting mission, for example, they'll just pass by before going and doing their thing.

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  10. Think how boring it must be to be a dolphin with all these daft humans winking and waving at you? I'd definitely swim away if I was one. :)

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  11. Think how boring it must be to be a dolphin with all these daft humans winking and waving at you? I'd definitely swim away if I was one. :)

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    1. Ha ha - judging by their recorded levels of intelligence, you may be on to something, Jo!

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  12. This made me laugh so much. You saw them! It must have been amazing!

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  13. It was, Liz! One of the highlights of my diving experiences. :)

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  14. Too bad heeding the "advice" scared them away!

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  15. Oh, but I didn't scare them away - they just weren't in a playful mood. There were other divers who showed me their videos of previous dives in which the dolphins interacted with somersaulting divers. :)

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  16. A beautiful memory of a very special event.

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    1. Hi, Helen - thanks for dropping in. Yes, it was - they are such fabulous animals.

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  17. Dolphins are so beautiful. What a great encounter!

    @WeekendsInMaine
    Weekends in Maine

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    1. AN underwater dolphin encounter has been high on my wish list for years, Karen. I caught a brief glimpse of a dolphin when I was diving in Kenya - but it was nothing like this.

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  18. Lovely photos. And lovelier story.

    Aneeta from
    How to Tell a Great Story

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    1. Hi Aneeta, thanks for popping in again and thank you for your comment.

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  19. Beautiful! A once in a lifetime experience. The way you told the ending was so funny. I could just picture that scene.

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  20. Beautiful! A once in a lifetime experience. The way you told the ending was so funny. I could just picture that scene.

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    1. Thanks, Deb - it's good to know I achieved what I set out to do and managed to portray the experience for you.

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  21. The one thing I know about animals and wild creatures is that they will usually do the thing you least expect them to do! Happy AtoZing!
    Revisit the Tender Years with me during the #AtoZChallenge at Life & Faith in Caneyhead!

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    1. HI Barbara, thanks for visiting my blog and glad you enjoyed the post. I pop along to yours later today. :)

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  22. We were watching a film on dolphins and such. The people who made the documentary used fake sea turtles and squids with cameras to film it. Spectacular!

    I’m exploring different types of dreams and their meanings.
    Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blogs

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    1. Hi Stephen, thanks for dropping in. Seeing dolphins actually hunting would be something! Hope you'll check out more of my wildlife encounters during this month. :)

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  23. You are so lucky to have been able to swim with them even if they thought you were nuts:)

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  24. Dolphins are so beautiful...lovely story :)

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  25. Hi, Jahnavi and thanks for visiting my blog. Glad you enjoyed my story and hope you'll return to enjoy more of my wildlife encounters.

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Many thanks for commenting. I appreciate your feedback.