Today I went down to Mission Bay in San Diego, CA to fish from a surfboard. Today was especially enjoyable. Not because I caught anything, but because I saw the greatest fishermen in the world at work, dolphins. Follow me after the jump as I recall my "encounter" with wild dolphins with pictures and video below.
I consider myself quite a fisherman. I like to fish the local bays and also the surf zone. I have caught(and released) countless species of fish from bass to croakers to halibut to massive 70+lb rays. Despite our best efforts to remove them, there are more species of animal in our local waters than I would have thought possible.
It is always a great feeling just to be around the ocean, around nature or down on the water. Through fishing I have developed a passion for conservation. I do not feel that I otherwise would have learned so much about the ocean or cared that it is in such peril. I try to use the best catch and release techniques possible(though I will admit that I will be very tempted to keep my next keeper size Halibut as they are just too tasty for their own good).
My latest form of fishing is to fish from a surfboard(well, more correctly an old windsurfer). I took up boardfishing as a much cheaper alternative to kayak fishing after finding the board for $20 on craigslist. There is something really cool about being right on the water, and I have enjoyed boardfishing even more than I thought I would have.
On this day I went to a nice quiet spot on the bay in hopes of targeting some spotted bay bass or perhaps even halibut with some luck. I was armed with some hand made soft plastics and also live smelt. It looked very fishy out there and I had everything I needed to make it a very fishy day for me.
My interest in fishing quickly dissipated as I saw a dorsal fin come out of the water less than 100 feet in front of me. It was the signature dorsal fin of a dolphin. While I have seen species far more exotic than dolphins, this was the first time ever spotting one in the bay as opposed to the ocean.
At first I saw one dolphin. It would appear every once in a while. It quickly became much more active, darting through the water and exploding on schools of fish. I have seen wild dolphins feed before. I saw them coming right into the breakers as I was was surf fishing, but never before saw them this close. They are creatures of amazing power and grace.
As I watched, I saw that there was a small pod of dolphins cruising around the cove. I never saw more than two at a time, but there must have been at least 3 of them. I could see the characteristic "boils" as bait fish were speeding through the water and jumping through the air as dolphins fed just beneath the surface.
As active as the dolphins were, I was surprised that they didn't come over to investigate such a strange looking thing as a human fishing from a surfboard, even if I wasn't really trying to fish anymore. Most people seem pretty surprised to see me boardfishing and ask me about my catch, call me crazy, or offer me a beer or whatever.
The dolphins had no interest in me at all. Either they have seen it all, or they have simply concluded that all humans are insane and nothing surprises them. I even got much closer to the dolphins as I paddled from one of my fishing spots to the next one. I stopped for a few minutes near them in hopes of getting better pictures. They would have nothing to do with it and were very caught up in themselves and their delicious fish.
At this moment I realized that they are much more interesting to us than we are to them. Perhaps they are the only sentient life forms. The dolphins were doing exactly as they had evolved to do: they were playing with each other, hunting and eating fish. They were not there for my amusement. They were living in the wild.
At no point did expect them to do tricks for food for my amusement.
At no point did I expect that we should have any sort of "encounter" or that I should be able go "swimming" with them unless they decided to check me out.
I didn't try to feed them any of the 5-6" live smelt I had in my trolling bait bucket.
I didn't try to eat them.
I didn't think that it would be worthwhile to capture/kill them since aquariums and dolphin shows around the world pay up to $150,000 for a live one. (the captivity industry is the only financial basis for the slaughter)
I didn't think that they would look better in the bland environment of a saltwater pool about as stimulating as an old insane asylum or prison simply because they look cute doing tricks.
And although I suspect that they scared the fish into hiding instead of biting, I don't blame them for stealing my fish as some Japanese "fishermen" and fisheries officials do. I blame humans for the decline in our fisheries.
This wasn't the first time I saw dolphins in the wild, but that is the nearest I have been and the most surprising part was that the dolphins have their own world and don't necessarily give a damn about humans. The world does not revolve around us. I suspect that I will get even closer to these amazing animals as I enjoy the water on my old windsurfer, or perhaps even a stand-up paddleboard or kayak in the future.
Today these dolphins did what they do best in my local bay waters. Also today, about 15 dolphins(pilot whales), sentient beings, were callously slaughtered in Taiji, Japan as if they were nothing more than a big fish to be eaten.
Today many dolphins were surviving, but not really living in captivity all around the world. They are made to do tricks for food. Or made to "swim' with tourists. When they don't do tricks or are not otherwise entertaining us they are not fed. They are often worked all day long and then left alone without any sort of stimulation.
Dolphin trainer, turned activist, Ric O'Barry describes the conditions in which captive dolphins "live".
"They have nowhere to go and nothing to do – it’s cruel and unusual," he said. "The only way out is death. You literally bore them to death. You go to the Sydney Zoo and look at the snake exhibit: there’s trees and branches. Even a cold-blooded snake is given more consideration."
Whether it is dolphins being slaughtered in a foreign land, or dolphins being held as prisoners just across the bay from one of my fishing spots, they deserve better.
On October 14, there will be demonstrations at Japanese embassies and consulates around the world.
Update: 20 dolphins are now being held in the infamous killing cove in Taiji, Japan.