Who knew air could be optional, and that time spent without it could be optimal? Enter the world of freediving. In this sport, time expands and lungs contract. The mind reaches a point of stillness and your body suspends in a vast bubble of blue. Here, I trailed alongside these two dolphins at the ocean floor and steadily glided up beside them, silently knowing there was no rush to the surface and enjoying the last few seconds beneath the surface before the three of us would breathe deeply, preparing to extend our dive times on the next round.
One of my favorite views in Hawaii is the way the light rays dance across a dolphins body in clear pelagic waters. Conditions need to align from a variety of angles to witness this spectacle. As the dolphin glides through the water the light rapidly adjusts is expression on the skin. Changing depending on the depth and orientation of the dolphins the sunlight continues to streak down into the bottomless blue water offering its luminance for the occasion.
Hawaiian spinner dolphins stick together in families, or pods, where they take care of each other and socialize. A tight knit group, dolphins literally sleep with one eye open while swimming alongside a pod member doing the same, so each can watch out for predators or threats. Sometimes it’s hard to see where one body ends and the other beings when they interact in this way. Here, two smaller, adolescent dolphins swim among the pod learning the ways of the species.
