Hawai'i Trip . . . Day 4

Day 4:

The most wonderful day of all!

We spent the morning at the Aloha Swap Meet. There were literally thousands of venders selling just about everything imaginable. I bought several gifts there for really great prices.

We then headed to Sea Life Park.

There we were able to watch Kate narrate the big dolphin show. I just love watching dolphins perform! They are so smart and talented! As they performed, Brooke filled us in on lots of training information as well as the names and characteristics of each of the dolphins. We watched Kamana, Ahi, Kaleo, Mikioi, Naia, and Kekaimalu (Kermie). Kermie is actually a wholphin – half dolphin and half false killer whale. This was a surprise mating between a 14-foot, 2,000-pound false killer whale and a 6- foot, 400-pound dolphin (who were featured in the Adam Sandler movie "50 First Dates.") After the show we met Azu who was working with the Sea Lions. She is the sweetest lady! She is married to Drew, who is the man in charge of all of the trainers at Sea Life Park. We were able to see Azu work with penguins and sea lions and then we watched her swim with dolphins in a tank where we could see under the water. She was so graceful and beautiful!
It was then time to get ready for the big event! Swimming with the dolphins! Brook opted to stay dry and be the photographer for the show. Corby, Rondi, and I lined up with a lady from Australia and several ladies from Japan on a platform in the pool. The first thing our trainer, Nicole, had us do was to hold our hands out while our dolphin, Maui, swam right under our hands so that we could get a good feel of his skin.

He then turned over and swam along side of us waving his fin. Each of us had a turn to let him give us a kiss on the check – and then we each got to give him a kiss on his rostrum. Of course, this was an awesome photo opportunity! Then came the fun part. We each took a turn swimming out into the middle of the pool. There we floated, feet down, one arm extended. When we were ready, Nicole signaled for Maui to swim behind us, turn over, and then swim in front of us. We grabbed one dorsal fin with our outstretched hand and then grabbed the other fin with our other hand.

Then . . . he took off!

We rode on his belly at what felt like 100 mph! He got right in front of the platform, and then stopped and we got off. It was truly exhilarating!
After each of us had a turn, we were handed masks so we could watch as Maui and Kaleo swam beneath us. We then spun in circles as we danced with Maui.

All too soon our program was over and it was time to do the “shaka” wave to our new friend, Maui as he waved back. It was so fun to get up close and personal with him. However, our fun was really just beginning!

After a quick, cold shower, we went “back stage” where we were privelidged to spend time with Drew and another trainer, Kristy as they worked with Hi’iaka (Hi’i for short) Hi’i is currently 6 months pregnant and isn’t doing shows right now. However, she loves attention, so she gave us our own private show as we fed her dinner.

When we first walked into the complex, she placed her rostrum up on the side of the pool as to say, “Hi, there! Did you come to play with me?”

We spent a long time there letting Hi’i entertain us with jumps, flips, waves, spins, and playing basketball while we learned much about the joys of dolphin training.

After visiting with Hi’i we went down to see Laka and her children, Adela and Nalu as well as Lupita. Usually the dolphins get all of their water from the fish they eat, but for some reason Lupita isn’t hydrated enough, so each day they pour 6-8 liters of bottled water down her throat!
Nalu is only 18 months old, and he is a real character. It was fun to see him and his sister, Adela, jump with their mother Laka. At one point, we were all leaning down looking into the pool when Nalu just swam by us waving. As we were all exclaiming how smart we thought he was, he stopped and slapped his tail into the water splashing water all over us! He then took off for a few minutes, then came back and started waving again. When he realized that we weren’t paying any attention to him (we weren’t going to fall for that again!) he rolled over, and swam away. He totally knew what he was doing! It was so cute!
I feel like I am on top of the world because I had this opportunity to interact with the dolphins and trainer! This is a day that I will NEVER forget!