THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME WITH DOLPHINS

THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME

by Sanuj Srimal Hathurusinghe

Image by Rajitha Jagoda 

I woke up from my light sleep to witness early golden rays of sunlight refl ecting on the surfaces of the salt evaporation ponds and vast pomegranate fi elds out from the van window. We had already turned from Palavi junction towards Kalpitiya and we were closing in on our destination, Dolphin Wadiya. Dolphin Wadiya, Kalpitiya is located in Kandakuliya, close to the tip of the Kalpitiya Peninsula. We got off there around seven in the morning and our tour guide Maduraj Fernando (everyone called him Raju for short) was already waiting for us. There were 12 of us in our group and Raju had arranged two boats for us. The plan for the day was to go dolphin watching fi rst and snorkelling before camping on Baththalangunduwa Island for the night. Dolphin season in Kalpitiya is said to be from November till April and we were feeling rather optimistic about our chances of witnessing the marine mammals as we arrived in Kalpitiya on the first Saturday of the month December.

 Only after confirming we had packed every necessity in our boats did we head out to sea. Some pilot whales had been spotted recently and we had our fingers crossed the whole journey in hopes of seeing some. We must have ridden for about an hour when we were greeted by a fishing boat coming back home. The fishermen were gesturing towards us and Raju acknowledged. The fishermen delivered good news, not about whales being ahead but some dolphins. Confirmed, we were all on our toes for the rest of the ride looking ahead to catch the first glimpse of the adorable mammals. After eight nautical miles into the sea we saw some disturbance ahead on the surface. As we got closer, the movements of the iconic dorsal fins and flukes became apparent and in no time we were in the middle of a pod of dolphins. “These are called bottlenose dolphins, one of the rarest dolphins found in Kalpitiya. By the size of it, this pod must be about 300 large” came Raju’s voice from the back of the boat. Everyone must have registered the fact but none of us bothered to reply or even to take our eyes off the dolphins for a second to acknowledge Raju as we all were mesmerized by the rhythmic surfacing of the dolphins.

Dolphins swam around us in all directions. Except for one friend and Raju, everyone else in the boat was there for the first time. It was so hard to keep one’s eyes on one small pod of them. Once the pod submerged there was no telling when and where they would resurface again, which made it extra difficult to take photographs. Some would shout “There!” and we would look at that direction. Then another would yell “Over here!” and all eyes would follow that direction. This parade went on for some rounds and after realizing that it was fruitless to sway the boat back and forth rushing to either side without catching a proper glimpse, we got back to our seats and started enjoying the spectacle individually.

Soon the pod swam away and it got harder and harder to keep track of them. Raju then led the boat to a different location where we were sure to spot dolphins. Again we were lucky enough to find another pod of dolphins, a much larger one this time, in a place about two and a half nautical miles away from the shore line. This time around it was a pod of spinner dolphins, a bit smaller and much darker ones in comparison to the bottlenose ones we saw earlier. Other than us, there were another couple of tour boats and some fishing boats as well. The dolphins lurked around the fishing boats in large numbers to snatch small fish off the fishermen’s bounty. Spinner dolphins, unlike bottlenose dolphins, were much agile and weren’t afraid to get close to the boats. They were much aerobatic too when compared to the bottlenose ones. Even little spinner dolphins would leap out of the water. Some would do back flips and some would leap and spin while being airborne.

Dolphins were there in abundance. According to Raju, the pod must have had over 2,000 spinner dolphins. While I was savouring every mesmerizing movement I could witness, ones with cameras too were busy capturing every movement through their lenses. The scene was a spectacular one. There were dolphins regardless whichever direction you turned and they were busy being aerobatic. We must have spent about an hour dolphin-watching and after the cameras and our own eyes had their fill we decided to bid farewell to the dolphins and headed towards the Bar Reef of Kalpitiya.

The Bar Reef is famous among snorkelers and scuba divers around the world for its rich bio diversity. It is considered the largest coral system of the country with the greatest biodiversity of any reef in the waters nearby. Or so I’d read beforehand.

The first time snorkeler me geared up and jumped into the water with high hopes of witnessing a flamboyant complex of corals and fish. Blue tang and clownfish could be easily spotted thanks to me watching Finding Nemo multiple times. Other than that, fish varying in size, shape, colour and numbers could be spotted such as surgeonfish, parrotfish, butterfly fish, damselfish, angelfish and triggerfish. There even was an octopus, which was camouflaged so well I sure would have overlooked if it wasn’t for my friend who pointed it to me, and a long, scary looking moray eel. Most of the names I got to know later thanks to our tour guide Raju but I couldn’t help but wonder the reef didn’t fulfil the high expectations I had of it. The corals didn’t look lively and weren’t as colourful as I hoped they would be. Many types of fish were present but they lacked in numbers. When I asked out of curiosity, Raj revealed the present state of the Bar Reef. “The reef is dead. We noticed the corals dying in April and informed the authorities. But the condition worsened so quickly and life disappeared from the reef in no time” said Raj. According to Raj the sudden spike in the temperature in April might have been the cause of coral dying. We left the Bar Reef and headed to Baththalangunduwa Island wondering how much of an extravaganza it could have been had the corals been alive and kicking.

Baththalangunduwa is a strip of an island just off the tip of the Kalpitiya peninsula. Our camping site was the narrow strip of sand towards the south of the island where no one lived and only mangroves were present. We first went to the wider part of the island where people lived to buy essentials. The island itself was a small one with little population. Nevertheless, a school, a church, a police station and single shop were there and fishing or drying the fish seemed to be the main life line of all the families there. Fish, spread out in the sunlight to dry, could be seen almost everywhere and strangely enough, none of the crows on the island seemed to be interested in grabbing the drying fish.

After buying drinking water and some fish for barbequing, we reached the camping site and pulled the boat further into the beach away from the reach of high tide. Then we started making preparations to spend the night. Leaving cooking to Raj and the other experts of our group, I helped with erecting tents and collecting firewood for the campfire. As the evening grew darker and darker, stars popped out in the sky one by one eventually covering the whole cloudless sky. With no city lights around, the stars shone vigorously and had our full attention. Although I’m not one who knows all the star constellations, the sheer beauty of the panoramic starry night sky fascinated me so much I lay down on the sand and observed the sky making my own constellations.

The more we got into the night the chillier and damper it became, apparent by the cold breeze and gradually dampening sand. The campfire we set proved to be the ideal antidote for the chill. We gathered around the fire and had our dinner. Rice with lentils curry, pol sambol and barbequed tuna proved to be the killer combination as it tasted heavenly. Someone brought out a conga and then it was time to sing. After we had sung every Jothipala song we knew and our voices had gone did we one by one crawl and cocoon ourselves inside the tents and go to sleep.

The next morning, we returned to the peninsula marking the end of what I felt as the best outing I had experienced in a very long time. While I was still on the island after packing everything to return, sipping hot milk from a plastic cup and glaring at the sea aimlessly, a solitary sting ray leapt out of the water not so far from the beach while flapping its fins as if to fly and landed on water before it disappeared. The happening managed to make me smile and with that as a high note I bade farewell to Baththalangunduwa Island and to the dolphin-watching trip which to me felt like an experience everyone should experience at least once in their life.
Originally Published on Ceylon Today
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