It was another beautiful morning on board the Dolphin Swim Australia vessel. We were halfway out of the bay heading to the open ocean when the sun reached the horizon. Our journey had one destination, finding our beloved common dolphins in the Port Stephens Great Lakes Marine Park.
The first rays of the rising sun were promising an amazing day. Despite the early 3 am rise, everyone on board was cheerful and excited. After half an hour of search, we spotted a large pod of dolphins heading towards us. The pod consisted of around 40-50 dolphins. The dolphins had surrounded the boat immediately and began riding the bow of the boat. To our great surprise, there were 5-6 babies amongst them, with one of them being so small I thought it was a salmon.
Luckily, they stayed with us for more than an hour which gave us plenty of time to swim with them in the crystal clear water.
I was lucky enough to capture some amazing moments with them.
I called this image “Arion” after a Greek poet called Arion who was kidnapped by pirates and miraculously rescued by dolphins.
“Arion attended a musical competition in Sicily, which he won. On his return trip from Tarentum, avaricious sailors plotted to kill Arion and steal the rich prizes he carried home. Arion was given the choice of suicide with a proper burial on land or being thrown in the sea to perish. Neither prospect appealed to Arion. He asked for permission to sing a last song to win time.
Playing his kithara, Arion sang a praise to Apollo, the god of poetry, and his song attracted a number of dolphins around the ship. Some argue that the Dolphins were sent by Apollo to rescue Arion. At the end of the song, Arion threw himself into the sea rather than be killed, but one of the dolphins saved his life and carried him to safety at the sanctuary of Poseidon at Cape Tainaron.”
Dolphin Swim Australia offers the only permitted wild dolphin swim in NSW and the first swim of its kind in the world! The dolphins are completely wild and free and each swim is dependent upon them choosing to be near our in-water guests!