Swimming with Dolphins

By Mary

We went swimming with DOLPHINS- not just any dolphins but the rarest, smallest and friendliest dolphins in the world. Hector's Dolphins are black and grey, have a rounded dorsal fin and can grow to 1 metre long. The Hector's dolphin is only found in New Zealand.
We dressed in long wetsuits and special waterproof shoes to keep us warm in the ocean. The boat took us around the island to look for dolphins. On the way there we saw some wild little Blue Penguins, an Albatross (like a giant seagull) and lots of red krill. Luckily we spotted some dolphins and we all slid into the water. Our guide told us not to jump or splash because it will scare away the dolphins. It was cold at first but it got warmer once we were in. We could not touch the bottom.
We attracted the dolphins to us by singing to them in our snorkel, clacking stones under water, and other crazy actions (It's a good thing we'll never see the other people again). Of course our singing sounded bad, but the dolphins seemed to like it. They started to swim near us! A tour boat came by and the dolphins were jumping wildly in front of it. We started singing louder and the dolphins swam over to play, jump and swim with us. We climbed back into the boat to find another spot. We spotted a mommy and baby dolphin swimming side by side. We hopped into the ocean and the two came very close to me. Three more dolphins joined us (the ones in the video). We weren't allowed to touch the dolphins because their skin is like the thin skin under your eye and it hurts the dolphin. We climbed back into the boat and enjoyed some cookies and hot chocolate before heading back to shore.