LOOK RIGHT! This shot Cynthia took illustrates how close Spinner Dolphins can get while encountering them in the shallows.
Photo taken by Cynthia Ochoa
This pic comes from Cynthia. On this particular day at Makaha’s Turtle Rock… we get a customer joining the turtles to form a triage, blending right in. Notice each is facing a different direction as if it were planned… or was it… Cynthia?
Photo taken by Cynthia Ochoa
Hi, four of us went on a dolphin adventure on Saturday, August 20th 9 am. We want to rave about it. Heath and his sister, Holly, were just dolls. [Captain Jenna] was the best. She made sure we swam with the dolphins and gave us all the do’s and don’ts of how to spot them. I just loved her. She drove around to several spots and really knew her “stuff”.
We didn’t even go to Hanauma Bay because of the fish, dolphins and turtles we encountered. We have been to the bay before and just couldn’t imagine topping your tour.
Jim, the photographer was also a great addition to the tour. He was right there in the water helping us and telling us how to best get the dolphins to swim around us. The whole thing was incredible.
There are two sides to every dolphin… and here they are. Jim took this on Tuesday, August 16th.
Photo taken by Jim Ward
I believe Jim took this photo at Makaha snorkel sight. This is a popular turtle cleaning station. Although I like to think of it as an underwater conga line straight out of a Disney movie, it’s really just symbiosis at work… not as fun, I know. The instigator is a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle and the little conga line cuboosers are Chevron Tangs.
Photo taken by Jim Ward
What are you gawking at? Me? That makes sense. This little big fella is a Blackside Hawkfish , one out of six varieties of hawkfish that inhabit Hawaii’s reefs. In Hawaiian they are known as piliko’a which translates to “coral clinging”. They have no swim bladder hence their name and are very recognizable as the stout little bar bouncers of the sea.
Photo taken by Jim Ward
This is one of my favorite perspective shots from our boat. We put Jim in the water and try to destroy him with cannon balls while he records the last moments of his consciousness. Ooor… it is a family portrait that will look fabulous on your Christmas Card this year. Just photo shop some Santa hats and or antlers and you and yours are holiday gold. This family was on our boat early this month and obviously had no fun at all.
Photo by Jim Ward
Sometimes dolphins blow rings and sometimes photographers named Jim Ward blow rings… If you are two dolphin excurters to witness the latter, then you get a photo of you getting a ring blown on yourself. This photo was taken by Jim on our August 9 tour.
Photo by Jim Ward
Thank you
Aloha,
I just wanted to thank you for such a great trip! I tried to sample as much of Hawaii as I could while there on my brief trip, including Pearl Harbor, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, a Luau, and a glider ride, and this was by far the best of them all. I would like to thank Megan and Jenna for hosting such a wonderful excursion that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to swim with dolphins and turtles in their natural environment. Their mix of humor and knowledge made for fun outing that was also educational. And thank you Cynthia for taking such wonderful pictures.
Mahalo
Kelly
Thanks!
Jen Savage