A couple of years ago I was travelling around the big island of Hawaii. I was with an Austrian girl who was keen to swim with dolphins. I was in two minds. I am a nature lover; particularly of the ocean and I would dream to share an experience with dolphins in the ocean. At the same time I am an animal rights activist. And I hear so many stories and see so much cruelty that sometimes I don’t want to subject any other species to having any contact with human beings. I know too much about how humans take advantage of them, hurt them, use them for food, clothing etc. I had heard that humans disturb them during their mating processes and rest time, and it can prevent them from visiting shallow waters and having rest time. And I am remembering when I saw Earthlings which has some horrific footage of slaughter of dolphins, one of the most graphics killings I have seen in my experiences both in watching films and visiting slaughter houses. I cried and cried it was so sad.
When I talk to fish or other sea creatures I find it very interesting how they communicate how they feel. They hear sounds, and the rhythm and the calmness in the ocean is by sound, at least that’s the way I interpret what they transmit to me. Noises outside the ocean perturb them, like motor boats or ships. There is such an incredible feeling of flow, and fluidity in their lives and the way they connect with their immediate environment.
On the beach, I sat down and reflected. I realized there are certainly situations that dolphins and humans can enjoy a playful and joyful time together in the water, with both parties enjoying immensely. What’s also important is to respect when they want time out; to respect that there will be months of the years when they do not visitors, like during breeding season. It’s important to stop and ask and really get a feeling if it’s appropriate on a situational, day by day basis and respect what they want as well. Seeing and swimming with dolphins in the open ocean is also a very different situation to a marine park where dolphins are kept in captivity.
Anyway back to Hawaii. So we were on this beach where dolphins are often spotted. Early one morning I saw a woman swimming by herself quite far out from shore. I decided to swim in the same direction and I went with the intention that if a dolphin wants to come near me they can but I held no expectations. A couple of people joined us. Dolphins swam nearby soon after, whilst the others went closer towards them, I kept my distance. And I felt quite content. Part of me was scared, I know nothing about them and what their needs are or whether they would feel threatened near a person and I do tend to be a cautious person.
I was quite in awe swimming underwater and viewing them from a distance in quite deep ocean. I can’t say I was completely relaxed, after all, where there are dolphins there are also sharks. If I had to swim near them to put them out of danger I would without missing a heartbeat, however when it comes to pleasure or relaxing with non-human friends I suddenly become very shy. I wonder if I am doing the right thing by them. I felt like a child waiting to be asked to play, to join the group wondering if they will enjoy my company. Even though my guides tell me I have a natural way with non human animals, that I naturally understand them and they will come to me. I sometimes doubt this ability of mine.
So I go back to the experience. There was one beautiful female dolphin swimming quite close to me. She was coaxing me to come closer with her gentle energy, almost like a “come play with me, its safe”. She was aware I could feel fluidity and rhythm and that I very much responded to her rhythmic movements and feeling of her unification with the ocean.
She also knew I was scared, scared to admit my true feelings that I just want to play with them and enjoy their company, but I was concerned if I was disrespecting the wants and desires of the dolphins and betraying my commitments as an animal rights activist.
For the last few years I have gone out of my way to experience as much as I can in life to decide what feels good for me, what is morally acceptable, how I can live in harmony with my surroundings. In the beginning when I become vegetarian, and later vegan, and animal rights activist I felt I stopped a lot of habits as I simply adopted the lifestyle choices of a vegan. That is I stopped eating animal products, stopped buying products tested on animals, stopped visiting animals being used for entertainment and stopped buying products which have been tested on animals. As time went on I realized there are grey areas and there were times when I was limiting myself from simply enjoying life and most of all, there were some situations where I was stopping myself from a close connection with my non human animal friends.
The message I received from the dolphin…..
“Look to the bottom, you cannot see it, look out to the widths of the ocean, it is endless, feel within yourself it is limitless. Go and play!”
And a memory of my love for the ocean, the feeling of flow, of softness, of experiencing harmony with another living being. I was stoked that day even though I did not want to admit it to myself at the time.