Our Island-hopping trip with Kay – see previous posts [links later] – held the chance of an encounter with dolphins. The frankly dodgy weather – rain, cloud etc – seemed to have dashed that hope. As we entered the approaches to Marsh Harbour, we (I) had given up all thought of seeing any dolphins when suddenly… dolphins to starboard. A small pod, not very close, of 3 or 4 adults and at least one calf. They did what dolphins do for a short time, while gradually moving away from us into the murk. There was naturally huge excitement on board at this unexpected sighting.

So as Marsh Harbour came into view, we had ticked off the full day’s list: reef-snorkelling at Fowl Cay; island-hops to Lubbers (with lunch), Elbow and Man o’ War Cays; and rounded off with the dolphins. Without going overboard in any sense, this was 6 hours of wonderful adventure, and highly recommended as a top quality day’s outing. And you can even get an Abaco Above and Below t-shirt at the end of it all to prove you have done it.

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I have been uncharacteristically reticent, I notice, about showing the proof of the dolphin encounter. And for a very good reason. These may be the worst quality images of dolphins you will EVER see. You may in fact be better off looking at a cartoon… For what they are worth, here are two photos (of several worse ones…)

A DOLPHIN

ANOTHER DOLPHIN

A MORE CONVINCING DOLPHIN

DELPHI DOLPHINS  You don’t have to go out in a boat to see dolphins. They have been seen from the verandah at Delphi, quite close to the beach – as have turtles and large rays. It’s worth having an occasional scan with the amazing autofocus binoculars that are kept in the Great Room