Swimming with the Dolphins - Port Phillip Bay (near Sorrento), Melbourne, Australia

by Alex Dillon

It was an hour and a half drive to get to the Sorrento pier from Melbourne. We were part of a group of sixteen people aboard the Polperro, and each of us was given a wetsuit and mask and snorkel. Shortly after setting out, the skipper spotted the first dolphins and the first group of eight people, me among them, was allowed into the water. I was so excited that I hardly noticed how cold it was! We grabbed on to two ropes trailing behind the boat, singing through our snorkels to attract the dolphins (yes, really! Because the dolphins are wild, they can't be fed so we had to make ourselves interesting somehow...)

Suddenly I saw two shadowy shapes approaching from my left. I got a huge rush of adrenalin and started singing my little heart out! A mother and daughter dolphin sedately swam straight towards me, slightly below, and passed within two meters of me. It seemed a lot closer! I was so excited that I completely forgot about the camera I was holding until the dolphins had just about disappeared.

With the dolphins gone for the moment, we got out of the water and the boat resumed cruising. Now that we were wet, it started getting really cold! We had a few false alarms, jumping into the water without seeing any more dolphins, and after a while the second group had its turn.

I dried off as much as I could and made my way to the bow with my camera. Pretty soon, we spotted a large pod of dolphins. I managed to take a few photos this time, and walked along the side of the boat as the dolphins swam towards the stern. They headed straight for the group of people in the water, surfacing between the two ropes and swimming around for a while. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone again...

Then it was time for my second turn in the water. My teeth were chattering and my hands and feet had gone blue, but I didn't care! I got back in the water just as another group of dolphins appeared. This time, they were swimming with the boat, and we were dragged along beside them, hanging from the ropes. What a rush! It seemed like it lasted forever, streaming through the water, with one dolphin right beside me and two more underneath me, although it couldn't have lasted more than a minute at most. Once again, I totally forgot about my camera until right at the end.

By now, we had had a lot of close encounters with the dolphins, and it was time to give the other boats a chance. We munched on some damper (traditional Australian buns) while the Polperro cruised towards a small seal colony. The seals were lounging on a semi-collapsed structure, and playing in the water around it. We were able to snorkel right up to them for a good close look, but by now I was so emotionally drained by the excitement of seeing the dolphins that it seemed almost an anti climax (I had dived with seals previously, so the novelty value had also worn off somewhat).

We were all exhilerated, but miserably cold. We got back on board the Polperro and warmed our hands as well as our insides with some hot drinks as we headed back to shore. This is one of the experiences that will always stand out in my life, and I will always keep it close to my heart.