Mind blowing

[Pete McCluskey.]

Went swimming with the Dolphins last weekend. A great experience!! If any of you get to Surfer's Paradise make sure you do this. Spent about 45 minutes with these guys felt like about five. See pic of my newest best friend /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Stupid me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif tried to load too big a file here is the pic.

 

[ChrisL]

Pete, What a amazing feeling it must have been. Were they wild? I here that you have to be very lucky to get permission to swim with wild dolphins.

 

I think it's at Disney you can schedule a swim with the dolphins. Last time we looked I think was booked in advance something like six months. It must have been pretty amazing.

 

Pete,

I didn't get to swim with the dolphins but my children and I got to feed and pet the dolphins at the Minnesota Zoo.
I do envy you. A great experience.
I did a bronze sculpture and a small fountain for the kids at the zoo. Not the best picture of it but it is fun having something a million or so people see every year. Lots of little kids get their pictures taken in front of the Dolphin sculpture every day. Nice to have a small part in their memories. It is located by the front door of the zoo.
Nothing like your experience but fun all the same.
Steve
That is you on the left, right?

 

[Chuck]

Great picture. What a cool experience.

There is a company which does a similar service in Bermuda. I had to go to a boring conference and my wife got to swim with the dolphins. She still talks about it and recently made me commit to getting the kiddos there to do the same. Certainly I will go this time!

 

Good one Pete. Great experience. I guess I’m very privileged. One of the upsides of being a marine biologist I suppose… Where I did most of my research through the ‘90s there was a resident pod of around 70 bottlenose dolphins. They used to delight in zooming past you while you were under the water (scared the crap out of you if you weren’t expecting them), then hanging round to see what you were up to, often “standing” on their heads to get a better look at the weird creatures in the funny suits. They invariably soon got bored with us however and took off to do their own thing. Almost always came back to ride the bow wave of the boat when we had finished our dives though. Mindblowingly graceful underwater and smarter than some people I know. I watched a trio of them chase a blue shark off once. They really gave the shark short shirft – I’m glad they view us as not being a threat.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Chris, no they are not wild, Seaworld on the Gold coast
allow about six people at a time to swim with them. (For a small fee of course). You can feed wild dolphin at Tangalooma Resort which is also on the Queensland Gold Coast.
Brian, that must be the most exciting experience, the Dolphin at Seaworld did the zoom past at a million mile an hour trick, they really can motor. I have done a fair bit of sailing and we often had Dolphin riding the bow wave. I have also seen them doing their circus tvpe tricks way off shore. I.E. leaping high out of the water doing somersaults
Etc, you would swear they were just having the time of their
lives. Amazing animals /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Steve, a great looking fountain, it must be terrific having a talent like yours. If I tried something like that it would
end up looking like Miss Piggy taking a shower.
Do you have any other pics of your work?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Brian, I know they are not as fast as a GT40, but (in their element) how fast can dolphins swim? I have seen them at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, but they don't seem to have enough distance to get up to what I would think their top speed would be. 30-40 mph?

 

Hi Jim,

Most dolphins aren’t that fast (although way faster than me in the water!!) and have top speeds in the range of 18-25 mph. Dall’s porpoise is the quickest at almost 35 mph, along with 0rca at much the same speed. Some dolphin’s can exceed this speed while bow riding (common dolphins have been timed at 37 mph on a bow wave). Bit far removed from the cars we love, but like the GT40, the dolphins have great shapes. Excellent sculpture Steve.

 

Has anyone seen "King of the hill" with Hank swimming with the dolphins?
Not for me ...
Sorry guys had to ask.
John

 

Pete and Jim,

I will be a little closer to your part of the world this week. Well, closer than Minnesota.
I will be in Hawaii (big island). Hope to see the whales and dolphins while I am there.
I think the babies are born around this time of the year.
Will keep an eye out for them. Jim, our resident Marine Biologist here may know for sure.
Also thanks for the compliments on the sculpture. High praise from a real Marine Biologist and
a man who swims with the beasts.
I do have some pictures somewhere of my work.
I will have to dig them up. I will post a couple after I get back from the Islands.
Aloha,
Steve

 

[Bill Bayard]

The acceleration and top speeds which some fish can attain are simply amazing. Great White sharks can attain 35MPH+. Dolphin and porpoise, 35-40MPH. Tuna, marlin, and swordfish can attain 60MPH in short bursts. Their fins actually retract into small slots in their bodies for better streamlining at high speed!
Most amazing of all,the shortfin mako shark can accelerate at a rate of 50'per second, per second! That equates to 70MPH+ over a VERY short distance(quicker than 99.9% of the cars on this forum)!It's no wonder that navies worldwide have applied these fish's/mammal's hydrodynamic properties to modern nuclear submarine technology!
Anyway you look at it, they are very cool creatures!

Pete,
You are correct about dolphins/porpoises enjoying a good splash. Many times,I have seen them race at full speed for hundreds of yards, in order to catch up to my boat, and play in it's wake(jumps, flips, etc.). They are definitely having a ball!

Bill

 

Gee Pete I just don't know how you guys in Queensland can eat these beautiful creatures. Reminds me of the story of this guy in court in Brisbane for eating a dolphin. He told the judge that he was in dire financial straits and this was the only way he could feed his wife and kids. The judge took pity on him and gave him a good behaviour bond. On his way out the judge leaned over and asked him what they tasted like. Oh something between a koala bear and a fairy penguin was his reply. Regards

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Crikey Norman, a Stockbroker with a sense of Humour,
That is a rarity!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Actually Dolphin aren't
bad but I prefer Dugong or Turtle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

This one is for Pete.
When we get off topic we really get off topic.
Here is a sculpture of my good buddy and wife.
Bronze, life size. A birthday present many years ago.
Now, I just buy her something from the Mercedes dealer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
She isn't as easily impressed as the old days.
She is still my buddy though.
Steve
Aloha.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Terrific stuff Steve, as I said earlier it must give you
a great sense of achievement creating beautiful things.
Good to see your wife is still your Buddy, it can be very
very expensive if you turn her into a non buddy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Reminds me of a friend of mine who asked his wife what she wanted for Christmas. She replied "a divorce". He said
" Gee I wasn't thinking of spending that much"!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Brian Kissel]

Heres a little something to think about. shark /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
This was in Australia also. I would love to vist and do some snorkleling one day.
Regards Brian

 

Hi Pete,

Sorry, meant to reply to your post much earlier, but business pressures, visitors from the UK, five days away have slowed me down!

That has to be one of the most amazing posts ever on this forum. Far removed from GT40s but stunning in particular the pics. Thanks for sharing it with us car nuts!

These beautiful, sensitive and highly intelligent animals are really special particularly in view of their close association with man.

I have a soft toy dolphin on my model shelf in my study. He sits opposite the Revell model of Malcolm Guthrie's GT40, chassis number 1009, painted in the dark metallic grey with central maroon stripe. The dolphin, who by the way lies next to a Koala bear, has a permanent grin on his face - no doubt fancies the GT40!

One thing that I can't figure out and maybe members can give input. There are animal lovers and environmentalists who are vehemently opposed to dolphins in captivity saying they should enjoy their freedom and should be out in the ocean with their pals. When one sees them leaping about in the waves that opinion seems to make sense but on the other hand in oceanariums they seem to love doing amazing tricks and in fact showing off to people. They also seem to have amazingly close bonds with their trainers.

The dolphins in the Port Elizabeth Oceanarium, not far from the Hi-Tech Automotive factory are an amazing sight.

I've an artist friend, Tony Butler, who is one of the most versatile artists I've ever known. Oil paintings, water colours, air brush, pencil drawings, cartoons,etc, not a problem. About 20 years ago I asked him to do an oil painting of a restored South African Air Force Spitfire flying over Cape Town. I had 1 000 prints made and a percentage of the sales went to the SAAF Museum Fund.

When the Spitfire project had been put to bed I came up with the idea of a cartoon character called Dinky the Dolphin. Dinky would be a do-gooder James Bond type character. First story, which I sketched, was based on the Boy on a Dolphin theme, whereby Dinky would rescue a kid in trouble in the surf.

Then Tony and I discussed a whole fantasy underwater world in which Dinky would be the shining star, thumping a shark who was gunning for a seal and breaking up a fish mafia ring and much else. On the downside there is a mean, nasty old world in which one has to survive which means that well-intended dreams and designs languish in filing cabinets year after year. Maybe one day! Also the other day I drove behind a car with a bumper sticker 'SO MANY WOMEN - SO LITTLE TIME'. My version is 'SO MANY PROJECTS - SO LITTLE TIME'.

See pic of Dinky. Cute isn't he!

Best wishes,
Andre 40