Once Again the Dolphin Sighting Guarantee Comes Through

As we set out on a cruise on Alabama’s Intracoastal waterway, captain Ritchie Russell began the patter that marks every voyage. He joked about his first-mate Alan, and how he’d have to don a dolphin suit if no dolphins showed up.

He talked about how his wife says he eats dinner like the dolphins do, swallowing the fish whole. Up on the top of the boat’s tower, he told us some of the habits of the creatures they chase around all day to earn their living on the Dolphin Express 2.

When the cute mammals did appear, you could sense the captain’s sigh of relief. What a bummer it would be to take all of us out on a dolphin cruise and see no dolphins. There they were, bobbing and jumping beside the boat. Then he sped the boat up to a level where it produced a big wake and soon he had the dolphins jumping through the wake and making high pitched squeals.

There are a lot of dolphins in this part of Alabama’s coast. And nearly as many boats that take people like us out and gawk at them. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon. We met a couple who had just married and were on their honeymoon down from Fort Smith Arkansas. She beamed as he shot minute after minute of dolphin footage on his video camera. “I got ’em baby, I got ’em good,” he shouted with delight.