A while back this ‘angmoh’ stranger emailed me about crocodiles as he had been on the same rivers that I had kayaked and wanted to compare notes on our experiences with these reptiles. Then he sprang a surprise on me by asking whether I would want to try kayaking with dolphins instead of the crocs! I nearly fell out of my chair as this is like asking if I want to go on a date with Angelina Jolie or Jessica Alba! Would I! And so we met up to talk further and to get to each other a little bit better; and we agreed to do it on a public holiday if the weather is fine. Turned out that Wayne, a long time expatriate here, is passionate about the Irrawaddy Dolphins and had been an avid 'dolphin watcher' since his first sighting of them in a river estuary in Kuching. He has also recently had an article published in the "Malaysian Naturalist Magazine" (Vol. 59/3 2006) of the Malaysian Nature Society. I also told Wayne that I’ll be bringing along one or two friends.

So I invited skeptical Kenny along ("there are freaking dolphins in Kuching? C’mon!!") and Joe, who unfortunately couldn’t make it due to ‘visa’ problems! (Go kick yourself Joe!) As luck would have it for Peggy (from the Bronx) from WCS; she called me the evening before just then when we have a vacancy for one more person.

It was a bright sunny day with calm seas when we set off from the muddy beach with Wayne and me on my new double kayak – the Perception Surge; and Kenny and Peggy on single kayaks. Wayne suggested that we paddle out towards the bay where the local fishermen were and asked them if they had spotted any dolphins about. We did and one of them told us that they were – out at sea.

Not wanting to venture that far out, we thought we’ll go and check out the cows we spotted on the beach on the other side of the river. Well if no dolphins, we’ll settle for cows then! Just as we were setting out for the beach, we heard excited cries from eagle-eye Peggy that she saw something out there. I looked at where she pointed and I saw the dolphins in the distance! Wayne was equally excited and said that it was a school pod of maybe 2 or 3 as we paddled towards them with him warning me not cut into their path; not that I could paddle as fast as a dolphin! The dolphins were headed back down the river from the seas. As we got nearer we stopped paddling so as not to disturb them. The sight and sounds (when they break the water surface for air) is something that has to be experienced and it’s indescribable! To say that Wayne and I were excited would be an understatement as we spotted schools pods of dolphins not just in front but suddenly from our sides and right behind us too! They seemed to be 'popping' up from everywhere from out of the blue! Wayne was almost besides himself with joy and delight and I was one ecstatic kayaker as these grey gentle mammals swam all around us! I gently ‘spinned’ the kayak 360 degrees to take in this most amazing sight!

Since he has a telephoto lens, I left it for Wayne to take the photographs while I paddled and maneuvered the kayak to get the best vantage shots for him. Hence I did not have that many good shots of the dolphins. We trust that Wayne’s shots will turn out well.

I could also see that Kenny was in a good position to take some good shots; so go over to his site for his inimitable take on our kayaking adventure this morning (when and if he gets round to it I suppose; did I mention that he had a 'challenging' time? heehee)!

The amazing experience of seeing and hearing 2.1 meters long mammals in the wild is just unbelievable! Am I thrilled to bits today? You can bet your little sunburnt tootsies that I am!

Stumble It!