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Hi Peter,

several times in Bass Strait, running before a big
sea, we have had dolphins just sitting inside a wave
then popping out as he wave passes by. I am certain
that in those cases they were using it as a way to sit
up level with the hull/deck of the boat to inspect it
and its occupants.

This inspection behaviour is something that I've seen
a number of times. Once coming down the coast of
Queensland, inside the reef I was sitting on the
coachhouse amidships and realised that I was being
watched from a distance of 2-3 metres - a dophin was
cruising along just under water and clearly watching
me. No doubt we have all seen dolphins turn on their
side when surfing the bow wave - it seems just to get
a better look at the person looking at them.

Off topic but it's what going to sea is about.

Best wishes

Mike
--- Peter Fogg  wrote:

> Have been away; ?up the coast? as we say. One of the
> places we called into
> was Forster/Tuncurry (S32? 10?  E152? 31?), twin
> towns separated by the
> entrance to a network of saltwater lakes. This
> entrance is narrow enough, so
> tides rush through it like a river in spate.
> Dolphins are to be seen
> appearing and disappearing from the surface of the
> water, swimming against
> the tide while staying in place, presumably feeding
> on the inflow of fish.
>
> When it seems their tummies are full they make their
> way out past the
> breakwater and just around the corner to a surfing
> beach. There they join
> the human surfers riding the waves, the dolphins
> clearly visible just within
> the curling arc of water. Can?t see how it serves
> any practical purpose, so
> suspect that they are enjoying themselves just like
> the humans, surfing for
> pure joy.
>
> On another occasion there the surf near the beach
> was poor, no humans
> present, but waves were breaking a little way out to
> sea, yet still close
> enough to the end of one arm of the rock wall that
> delineates the passage
> and extends out to sea. A few dolphins were surfing
> there, but in a
> different style, with the front half of their bodies
> extending beyond the
> rather sloppy breaking waves, much like a human
> body-surfer. So it seems
> that they are accomplished enough surfers to adjust
> their technique to suit
> the conditions. I wonder whether they have learned
> by imitating the humans,
> or if it is the other way around ? perhaps they have
> been surfing for
> millennia already. We come across them often enough
> off the bow of the boat,
> although we don?t make enough of a bow wave to be
> surfed.
>
>
>
> What does this have to do with Nav? Well, some may
> pursue the subject as an
> end in itself, but another point of view is that it
> is a useful tool that
> leads to, for example, the watching of dolphins
> surfing.
>
>




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