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[ Previous Article ] - [ Articles ] - [ Next Article ] Hurrican Brett - September 1999 Article by Scarlet Colley Well , we made it through Hurricane Brett . We were very lucky with the course it took and our beautiful island remained unharmed. Our Laguna Skimmer was the first boat back in the water the day after Brett roared past and Capt. George and I were a little concerned with the wind and heavy chop on the bay leaving the marina in port Isabel to re dock at the sea ranch marina . As our boat was lowered into the water I was apprehensive but the skimmer had been out in northerners before and handled it just fine, so off we went towards the shipping channel choosing this route back verses thru the swing bridge and having to face the huge waves coming across the open part of the bay by the causeways. No sooner had we made it to the shipping channel when we were greeted by our favorite little dolphin Baby and his new family and they came flying in great leaps through the water to us .Because of the wind and choppy water we kept on going and they followed us for a while not quite understanding why we didn't stop to be with them as we usually do . Then as we approached the mouth of south bay where we had to contend with the huge waves coming across the opening, there came another group of dolphins , again flying through the water towards us .As they started leaping out around the boat I could see it was can opener , skimmer, nipper and her little one, frosty, and the whole group. Again they didn't seem to understand why we were not stopping and they stayed with us as we approached the green and red buoys where the water was really getting rough and here comes another group of dolphins ,again leaping and flying towards us like i have never seen them do before and it was lightening, natcho and titans group. George and i were in awe of their excitement of seeing us and their incredible greeting when we realized we were the first boat they had seen or heard in a few days. The bay must have been an incredibly quiet place for them during the evacuation. No wave runners, no engine noises, no big motor sounds . They have become so use to all these sounds and activity of boats all around the bay that they were really happy to see us . I think it must have been a very confusing time for them for things to go so quiet all of a sudden and everything they are use to now with humans in their environment all of a sudden gone. As we realized this could be a very good possibility and an explanation for their wonderful greeting they gave us the whole trip home, we felt it a privilege to be on the water that day and to have had such a wonderful encounter with our wonderful dolphins of south padre island. And as usual they have given us some incredible encounters this month. We were getting concerned about twister and jasmine and their groups for we hadn't seen them in over a month. We had accounted for everyone else and hoped we would see them soon . Capt. George and i got a call from a couple on their honeymoon and wanted a special dolphin encounter and sunset trip and had seen our beautiful Laguna skimmer at the marina, could we take them within the next hour. We dropped everything like getting ready to mow the yard and sped off to the boat. I jokingly said as we were skimming out of the marina, that on a spontaneous trip like this I don't get to ask the dolphins to be at a certain place at a certain time and wondered where we would find them. We were no sooner out of the marina when there coming to us was a big group of our dolphins. The couple couldn't believe it and soon we were surrounded with non other than Jasmine, her baby, and group and twisters group. A total of 18 dolphins. They greeted us rolling over each other and taking turns coming right up to us, bringing their eyes up out of the water to see us. They seemed to understand the special encounter they were sharing with the honeymooners we had on board with us. They stayed with us for over an hour as they frolicked and played and kept us in awe. It was wonderful to see the very groups we were wanting to see home safe and sound. Its amazing after almost 5 years of being with our dolphins that each encounter is as wonderful as the one before. They never cease to continue to touch our hearts. and lives
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