My Year of Fear: Fear # 25: Swimming With Ocean Animals

I spent the last seven days on the open sea, cruising through the Mexican Riviera to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Seven days in an air-tight and sea-sick cabin, overlooking nothing but dark ocean waters, surrounded by strange drunken foreigners, battling the temptation of non-stop free room service (fear of weight gain?)…. Yes, that may have seemed like this week's fear itself. But little did I know, the greatest fear would lie ahead.

I'll let you in on a little secret: I am deathly afraid of ocean animals. They're slimy, they're mysterious, they lurk. And they swim in their own poop. Also, remember that news story about the Sea World trainer who was "accidentally" drowned by her own killer whale during playtime, dragged underwater and thrashed about in front of thousands of audience members? Yeah. My point exactly.

Let me give you a little bio on the ocean animal we encountered.

Fact: They can weigh up to 440 pounds.

Fact: They are carnivores.

Fact: They hunt together by surrounding, trapping, and taking turns through a school of their prey.

Fact: As my older brother slyly mentioned, they have "sharp cone-shaped teeth".

What was this large, predatory, dangerous ocean animal we risked our lives with?

Why, it was none other than the Dolphin.

[would you just take a look at those cone-shaped teeth.]

Ha. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Dolphins are the least-threatening animals in the ocean, and probably in the entire animal kingdom, right? I know that. But just the thought of a slimy creature submerging from the ocean abyss to nibble my toes gives me the heebie jeebies.

So there we were in Cabo, patiently waiting for our dolphin swim. My little sister had dreamed her whole life for this day to come, and yet she admitted her anxiety. My aunt Julie had swam with dolphins before, and she was even nervous. So where did that leave me? Absolutely terrified.

[just lurking…]

As our time came, we were introduced to the trainer and then to our dolphin, Naui. Naui was seriously adorable and seemed innocent enough! I felt at ease until the trainer made a few remarks about Naui. He told us not to touch her face and not to make any sudden movements, or we may startle her. ……Okay, and then what?

During the introduction, the trainer also pointed out another fun fact: "See all of those marks on Naui? They were made by other dolphins while mating, fighting, or playing. Dolphins communicate with their teeth." …...Whoa - wait, what? So what if Naui wants to "communicate" with me?

If I had not already been in the water and surrounded by 5 dolphins at this point, I would have been long gone. But I was frozen by the thought of any sudden movements ending in a dolphin feast for five. Okay, not entirely true - my excitement overcame my fear.

But I was still a little disturbed by that Sea World incident.

So? It was amazing. I still cannot believe how smart these animals are. And they weren't as slimy as I had imagined…. I was laughing and shrieking with pure happiness and joy the whole time. Afterwards I even remember saying, "I would rate this way cooler than skydiving!" (Well, I guess I'll have to go skydiving again for an accurate comparison…)