I blinked, then all of a sudden my eyes widened: was it really what I thought it was? Just a moment earlier I had seen a grey dot far in the distance, but as the seconds passed by the small grey dot had multiplied and I could now count several more of them. Then I gasped with a sudden realization: were those dolphins? One after another they emerged through the gentle waves. Up and down they swam whipping their tails gracefully. I stared at them starstruck: no words came out. From when I was small I had loved dolphins, and to see them so close to me I was so joyful. The dolphins were truly beautiful: their skin was a light grey-blue that then faded into white. Their skin seemed so smooth and delicate. How I wanted to ride one of those dolphins hanging onto its fin riding it through the waves just like a movie I had seen! I looked at my mom and she looked at me right back, we didn’t say anything to each other, but I felt like she was telling me not to follow my dream to ride a dolphin into the sunset. A little disappointed I continued on admiring the dolphins.Then I spotted a baby dolphin bobbing up and down, its small black eyes twinkled as if it was saying “come on, play with me”. I smiled thinking of how this dolphin behaved much like children do.
The dream I was living started when a friend had suggested to go see Panalu’u beach. When we arrived there it had seemed like any other beautiful Hawaiian beach. However from the moment we started swimming in the turquoise water we thought we had stepped into a fairy tale. We swam for a while until we were far from shore. The water was really deep, yet I could see down to the very bottom of the sandy ocean floor. Then I saw it the mysterious grey dot.
Back home that evening I couldn’t stop thinking about this unique experience of being completely surrounded by wildlife in its native environment and how this can only be possible by a respectful attitude toward mother nature.