Freediving & Dolphins

[blistgun]

Hello all.
My luck coincided with over 20 beautiful dolphins on my way to a spearfishing trip in the red sea.
Check the video out!




Question... Have anyone tried freediving with dolphins? Is it safe? And how can you keep them interested in the area? Because whenever we stopped the boat they left the area.

Cheers
B.

Note this thread was posted twice - the reason is i realized that it might not be the right forum.

 

[titan]

thanks for the great video I'm going to red sea next week hope to be lucky as you

 

[blistgun]

Anytime...Ya i was just reading your other thread about dahab.
Dolphins are the most amazing thing. Have you decided to take any freediving courses while you are there?

I heard APNEA academy is going to be available but unfortunately no seats available!

Have fun in Dahab!

 

[titan]

no I'm going just do some training sessions I don't have time or money to courses
is needed a license to spearfish in the red sea ?!?!
I'm planing to snorkling everyday maybe get a work to pass winter there
it's raining and there is a seastorm here :S
can't wait

 

[blistgun]

oh well hope the training sessions works well for you..
yes you do need a license to speafish and its illegal in touristic places like Sharm and Dahab.

you will however most definitely enjoy the beautiful coral reefs and all kinds of coloured fish! enjoy

 

[titan]

can't wait finaly something diferent from green and rain
thanks
I hope to have lot's of party and freediving over sharm I think I going there and never go back

 

[blistgun]

anyone care to know what type of dolphins are there?

 

[lynsea]

they look like a smaller breed. thats about all i can deduce.

 

[Walrus]

They are spinner dolphins, didn't know they were in the red sea also. I have dived with them a lot in Hawaii. When they are in a playful mood can be very fun to freedive with them. They play a this game with leaves where they pass it to each other, kind of like dolphin hackey sack. When they are showing off they can catch it on their nose, then pass it to their pectoral fins, then their tail
Can see the leaf on this photo :-

Cheers,
Wal

 

[blistgun]

Spinner Dolphins? thats an interesting insight as our captain has been sailing here for years and never seen dolphins that close. Thanks for the insight! They must have been visiting or something...

 

[ricki]

We went free diving with some around Dolphin Reef off southeastern Egypt in the Red Sea. I believe ours were Longnosed Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris)* I shot some unusual video with them, likely because I was on a dive scooter that may have intrigued them



* More information about these dolphins at:
[ame=http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=8720]Diving With The Dolphins Of Sataya (Dolphin Reef), Red Sea - A Video - FKA Kiteboarding Forums[/ame]

I am not sure how things go in other cases, the day we were at the reef, there were a bunch of liveaboard boats dropping free divers from several pairs of zodiacs on dolphins when they surfaced. From what I could see the dolphins usually took off fairly quickly. Not sure if this happens all the time or not. Looking into it some more, apparently Dolphin Reef is a resting area during the day while the dolphins feed in surrounding pelagic waters at night. Trouble is with the way things are going currently, they may not be getting a lot of rest. If what we saw is normal, they spend a good deal of the day moving away from free divers being dropped from boats. I noticed discussion of regulating the practice and restrict access to these areas, online perhaps for this reason. That would be too bad if it came about and yet it could be necessary for the health of the dolphins. You'll notice about four or five calves in my video. Not great for developing dolphins to be chased all over either. I recall going in with about 75 spinners off Kehei, Maui in 1998. They just slowly drifted along for hours not doing any evasive swimming that I noticed. Is it still that way? Anyone know more about this situation in the Red Sea?

 

[Lil Dragonfly]

I'm not so sure about freediving with spinners. I read that in Hawaii in the places where the swim-with-dolphins tour boats go they are stressed and stopped breeding.

Better to freedive with bottlenose dolphins off Key West, or spotted dolphins off the Bahamas.

 

[JennyWren]

I've encountered spinner dolphins and done some diving with them at Kealakekua Bay (near Honaunau) on Hawai'i. They seemed pretty curious and kept coming back for drive-bys.

I've got some pics here: Snorkeling : Exploring the underwater world

(scroll down, the dolphin pics are near the end)

 

[spearu]

While free diving about 7 miles due South of Key West, at a place called Sand Key, I was taking some underwater pics of the reef and a pod of 6 bottle-nose dolphins swam past. They weren't in a hurry but didn't stop to play. Beautiful sight.