Dolphins are the "humans of the sea" ~ i.e., thinking mammals of the whale (Cetace) family, filling the ranks between whales and porpoises, just like humans fill the gap between gorillas and spider monkeys. Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins (Stenella Longirostris)as seen in the above photo, are notorious for leaping and spinning in the air, but what makes Spinner dolphins unique is that, without each other and the open ocean, spinner dolphin die. They don't survive captivity, so you can only see Spinner Dolphin spinning in the open ocean. In Hawai'i, there are many tour boats dedicated to showing Spinner dolphins spinning in the air (but chances are MUCH better at seeing them UNDER water, which is where dolphins live)!

Spinner dolphin feed at night and sleep during the day, so it isn't necessary to be a great swimmer to swim with a "pod" of "sleeping" dolphins. (Like mothers around the world, only half of the Spinner Dolphin brain goes to sleep). Just remember these dolphin ARE sleeping, and despite that disarming friendly "smile", any one of the Spinner Dolphin in a pod may not take kindly to being awakened and become VERY grumpy, like any member of YOUR family! So keep still, and keep your distance!

Some people are surprised to see a dolphin with its mouth open underwater. Why? How else can it catch its food? This photo also shows you the difference between the silhouette of a shark and that of a dolphin. See how a shark swims by swishing its tail to the left and right ("to and fro") but dolphin tails go up and down ~ like that of a whale ~ but all together, like a Las Vegas chorus line!

Hawai'i is renown for mixed races, but the mix continues underwater. On the left is a "whalphin", whose father was a false killer whale, and mother a bottlenose dolphin. He inherited his father's eyes and size!

The most familiar dolphin face is that of the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) of "FLIPPER" fame, with its distinctive curved "smile". Bottlenose dolphin are friendly, and readily co-operate in performing stunts. On TV, in the movies, and at marine parks, the dolphin you are most likely to see performing is a Bottlenose Dolphin. Bottlenose dolphin replace their outer layer of skin every two hours, so you won't see a Bottlenose dolphin without scars!

Like whales, dolphins have a whale of time slapping their tails on the water trying to make the loudest possible noise. And, like teenagers around the world, one dolphin can drive the marine world crazy by slapping its flukes against the water as many as 20 times in a row! The speed of sound is about 4 times greater underwater, a fact you can pass on to your parents the next time they complain about the noise you make!

Dolphin also communicate by making a clicking noise with their blowhole ~ as many as 800 ultrasonic clicks per second! This communication system makes it easy for them to precisely locate enemies - and food! A dolphin pod can be all girls, all boys, or the whole clan, but as you can gather from these photos, any dolphin pod swimming along will make a quick banquet out of any school of fish! It takes a dolphin about 1/5th of a second to refill its lungs with air, which it can expel water from its blowhole at 100MPH ~ creating a "Power Shower" that will leave any Wall Streeter in awe!

In English, a baby dolphin is a "calf", but any resemblance to a calf is purely hysterical. Baby dolphin may suckle until they are 4-years old, presumably because it takes that long to acquire a taste for scavengers - squid, crab, shrimp, and lobster, with fish for dessert! No wonder dolphin is a kapu ("taboo") food for Hawaiian women! On that diet, Spinner dolphin grow up to become average human size, i.e., 5-6' in length and weigh between 130-200 lbs.

In July, 2003, a man swimming with a pod of dolphin off the Waianae coast was bitten on the leg by a shark. DLNR promptly issued a warning that it is dangerous to swim with dolphins, but in Hawai'i, statistically, it is CONSIDERABLY MORE dangerous to cross the street inside a marked crosswalk, than to swim inside a pod of dolphins! BUT, look at the this photo closely and imagine yourself behind the camera. If you just clicked the shutter and saw a shark in this environment, where would you go? There is no place to hide, and no chance at all that you could out-swim a shark! Moral: if you go swimming with dolphin, and they suddenly "take off like rockets," don't worry if you forgot to bring the napkins, because napkins won't be needed!

Sailors claim to have seen dolphins leap 20-feet high in the air, a feat which not only astonishes seafarers, but also probably comes as a great surprise to predator sharks! (If true, what aren't dolphins in the NBA?) But the only way you are likely to see dolphins perform underwater, is to be in the water with them! Just remember that the instant you dip one little digit into the ocean, you become part of the food chain! Only YOU can decided if that is a journey worth making!

Of course, if you are one of those people who prefer to paddle your own canoe, remember it is illegal for you to approach a dolphin, but not illegal for a dolphin to approach you (common sense, since dolphin don't read law). The U. S. Coast Guard can tell you that is just as fishy as it sounds! But if a dolphin does approach you, never forget it is a wild animal, not Flipper!