For wild dolphin encounters, perhaps the best anywhere occurs along the White Sand Ridge of the Bahama Bank, off the northwest point of the island. Here, a resident pod of Spotted Dolphins has long been accessible to humans. Although they seem to prefer snorkelers to scuba divers (presumably the noisy exhaust bubbles annoy or scare them), these majestic mammals alternate between feeding (mostly by rooting in the white sand for crustaceans) and simply playing. The water is typically very clear here and, since the dolphins will generally allow a close encounter, the photo potential is worldclass.
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The dolphins control the pace of this encounter. They usually show up each day but it is difficult to predict when or where. Several liveaboard boats include White Sand Ridge on their summer itineraries and have made a science out of assuring contact among their guests and the dolphins. Often, they will circle the area, creating a bow wake the dolphins enjoy riding. Once the pods are found, guests jump in the water on snorkel. Sometimes a diver riding a scooter will have good luck getting the dolphins to come close. The dolphins seem to regard all of this as a game; the most agile and active guests stand the best chance of enjoying prolonged interaction. Most of the pictures taken of Spotted Dolphins in the wild or in nature films depicting dolphin behavior were shot right here on the Bahama Bank. If the subject is dolphins, the odds of a cooperative subject are better off Grand Bahama and Bimini than anywhere else in the world.
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Thanks goes the Bahamas Diving Association who provided the content for our Bahamas Dolphin diving article.
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