Despite 6 dives I still struck out on the dugong. I’m starting to think that the damned thing doesn’t really exist. Well, I’m lying, I did see two dugongs – on a postcard and on a sticker adhered to a nitrox tank. And I believe in the theoretical possibility dugongs, since I was a kid in Florida and I’ve seen manatees.
Dolphin House, on the other hand, seemed like a sure shot. About an hour away from Marsa Alam lies a horseshoe-shaped reef that’s been colonized by a group of spinner dolphins. Unfortunately, it’s also a very easy tourist destination, and as a result, “casual” tourists have access that usually is only enjoyed by marine biologists and other researchers.
It seems, though, that a coalition of NGOs and the Egyptian government are trying to prevent Samadai Reef (the reef’s “real” name) from becoming DisneyLand Egypt. The reef and its enclosed lagoon are divided into three zones: an outer zone for diving boats and zodiacs, a middle zone for snorkelers, and an inner zone that’s dolphins only. This zoning system is to ensure that the dolphins have “control” of the encounter – and to minimize the potential for animal harassment. A surprisingly robust authority presence and a US $15 entrance fee seem to keep the site functioning along its intended purpose.
Our boat left the Oasis very early in the morning to try to beat the rush. Since it’s forbidden to dive with the dolphins – unless the dolphins come to you – the diving attraction of Dolphin House is the lovely system of swim-throughs, caves, and pinnacles that lie around the edges of the horseshoe. In between the two dives, you hit the water with your snorkel and your ridiculously oversized flotation vest, and hope for the best.
We were the first boat there, which was gratifying. We could see the fins of the dolphins on the surface, but they were in the no-swim zone, so we got on with our first dive as best we could. It’s really hard to suit up properly when you’re craning your neck and hoping for a miracle.
The diving was quite lovely. We had spectacular visibility due to the almost complete lack of wind – the surface of the sea looked like pack ice, it was so smooth. I’ve discovered that I really like swim-throughs, which are basically underwater tunnels. They can be a bit tight and they usually have silty bottoms, so it’s great buoyancy practice. And it’s just scary enough to be thrilling without engaging the part of the human brain that’s a gibbering idiot during a dive (it’s usually gibbering something along the lines of are you crazy??? All your air is in this tiny hose!!! Surface! Surface!! That’s what 3 billion years of evolution gets you if you’re a land-dweller). I also got to see an enormous anemone studded with clownfish, all of whom were prepared to beat us to neoprene pulp.
We gulped down our lunch after the first dive and watched with sinking hearts as the swim zone filled up with snorkelers. The vast majority of them were the worst kind of resort trash – the Italians and Russians who ruin ecosystems due to ignorance and irresponsibility (case in point: Sharm El Sheikh). When the dive masters finally let us in the water, we divers scattered through the dive zone in small groups of 2 and 3, trying to dodge the herds of Italians.
The dolphins hovered just over the line in their zone. They clearly were not pleased by the huge groups thrashing in the water by the marker buoys. My Swiss friends and I drifted a bit away, and since I was getting cold I put my face in the water to try to amuse myself. And then, just at the edge of my vision, I saw –
I have jumbled recollections of the next forty minutes or so. There was a lot of splashing, a lot of swimming, and the occasional shout followed by a gurgle. The guides for the Italians led their locusts in broad swathes across the swim zone, disrupting encounters. Basically, this pattern happened over and over: a group of 5-7 dolphins would dive deep and swim below us. We’d look down and try to ignore the sounds of frantic splashing from a few feet away. And while we were looking down, but before the herd got to us, I’d feel a huge shape rocket past my shoulder on the surface – and suddenly a dolphin would be in front of me, circling, until the snorkelers caught up and chased the dolphin away.
Chasing after dolphins is dumb for two reasons. First and foremost, because you’re never going to catch them. Never. Secondly, it irritates the dolphins, who then give you the flipper and head home. The dolphins seemed a bit overstimulated by all the snorkelers and kept dashing around from one group to another, until enough lifevests had accumulated in one place to drive the dolphins back over the line. We got luckier as the snorkelers left, but everyone has to be out of the snorkel zone by 2 pm and out of the reef system by 3 pm, so we had to dash to fit in our second dive.
It's also important to remember that wild dolphins have never seen Flipper and don't quite realize they're supposed to be cute and fluffy. Dolphins are intelligent, fast, big, heavy, powerful animals that gang up on sharks for fun. I heard once that more divers are hurt by dolphins every year than by sharks, and I'd believe it.
The second dive was more of the same as the first, although we spent more time swimming long figure-eights among the pinnacles. We were all worn out from the dolphins, but we were still disappointed when none of them came to the pinnacles while we were diving. The highlight of the dive – which I only fully appreciated afterward – happened when our dive master discovered a pair of rare robust ghost pipefish under a coral. He nearly wrenched my camera out of my hands to get this shot:
There are two pipefish in this picture, and they both look exactly like sea grass. The larger pipefish is facing up in the foreground. The second pipefish is in the plane of focus behind the first pipefish. It took me quite a while of clinging to the bottom and thinking what is he so excited about? before I could finally distinguish the fish. I only noticed them because they weren’t moving in tune with the very slight surge that was pushing me about on the bottom.
The nicest part of the whole day happened on the way home. We were all straining our eyes at the water’s surface because exactly a week earlier in the same place, the dive masters had spotted a whale shark – the unicorn of diving. We didn’t end up finding a whale shark, but the dive master found something else – another group of spinner dolphins. When we slowed the boat down, the dolphins came speeding over to us. They swam around the boat, they jumped in the air a bit, they came to the surface and looked at us, and all the while we whistled and cheered (which the dolphins seemed to like). None of us could get in the water, but we had an intensely good time.
When the boat resumed motion, first one, then another, and then a third dolphin raced to get under the bow of our boat. They swam just under the keel for several minutes, popping up once in awhile to breathe. One by one they dropped off to rejoin their pod, and we gave the winner a round of cheers and whistling as he peeled away.
Lots of fun. Lots.
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