Ahhh the surfing season has definitely arrived! Crisp sunny offshore days and great waves! And even better some great showings by the local wildlife.
We turned up for an early morning session last week,the waves were not anything special to be fair but the morning sun was creeping over the cliff and catching the spray beautifully. What made the session really memorable however was a surprise appearance by a pod of bottlenose Dolphins. A set came through and we saw large dark shapes darting within the wave, then suddenly they leapt from the face in a group – incredible! Everyone was smiling and hooting, even the arrival of a trio of long boarders couldn't dampen our enthusiasm.
The dolphins surfed with us, played around us and generally put on a fantastic show. Jumping, flipping upside down, waving their tails in the air and gliding right under us. I dived down to meet them squinting my eyes underwater and often seeing their silhouettes pass right past me, I could hear their high pitch squeaking as they inspected me. There is no better experience in the sea than encountering wild dolphins it really does set you on a high.
After a half hour they moved on and I was left with a warm glow that stayed with me all day.
Today I also had a great surf, lovely crisp, hollow little waves. Another sunny morning - this time with great waves! But again nature put on a great show, as we waded into the water we could see 3 seals playing in the shallows, and more out in the surf. They spent the whole session regarding us carefully, sometimes hooting mournfully in the distance. Several times the smaller females popped up very close by and one duck dived in front of me as I took off on a wave, riding down the line I could see her racing along under me in the clear shallow water.
I've procured a set of small swimming goggles to wear round my neck when I'm surfing from now on so that next time I have one of these encounters I will be able to dive down and see it all clearly!
I think I will also get a wrist mount for my GoPro so that I always have my camera with me as well, just in case.
