A beautiful day for taking the sea canoe and my three boys out for a paddle , not to hot and a sea of glass perfect conditions for the canoe . This was just another day at the beach for us really, we take the canoe out all the time and often see sting rays and schools of fish and squid, the boys were excited about what we would see today. So we set out three boys and Dad on our plastic surf canoe,the water was so clear you could see to the ocean floor, water so flat and calm these really were perfect conditions. About a mile or two off shore we saw something break the glassy sea about 20 feet away from us and a fin rise from the water the disappear. Most people would panic and think the worst but for some reason we all stayed calm and waited for the fin to rise again. It did rise again but this time not just one but two heading strait toward us , we kept paddling slowly then two dark shadows darted underneath the canoe and surfaced near us.

 To our relief and joy two dolphins  arched their backs and swam underneath us, the boys laughed out loud with excitement as the dolphin mother and baby continued to swim along side and under the canoe.The pair moved closer and closer to the canoe turning onto one side to look at us with one eye ,my youngest son put his hand into the water and touched the baby dolphin as it swam under the front of the canoe, he was so excited he shrieked with joy “I touched the dolphin Dad” I was so happy for him I had not seen smiles this big since Christmas day. The dolphins  followed us for about ten minutes in all before they dove under one more time and swam off side by side.

 We all went silent for awhile after the dolphins swam away, we were all so amazed at what we had just seen,so much for an ordinary day at the beach this was a great day. Days like this make you happy to be alive and living near the sea I feel privileged to have shared and encounter with dolphins with my three boys, it will be a day none of us will forget.