NavList:

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.