[BBOT] Our Diving Friends

Being raised on the Gulf Coast I had grown accustomed to awaking before dawn and taking my ritualistic walk on the beach close to my home. There is just something about breathing the fresh air while walking on the sandy beach, and as the sand squished up between my toes, I heard what sounded like a distant rumble. Thinking it was merely the rumble of an April storm brewing in the distance, I put it out of my mind and continued my walk.

Suddenly I recalled that today is the day I take my weekly dive with my best friends Alex and Jo (short for Josephine), just off the coast. It is during the first of what would become weekly dives that I had my first encounter of swimming with wild dolphins. What an absolute thrill it was when these sleek, playful creatures first came up to me while I was struggling against a slight current. They seemed to be as inquisitive of us as we were of them. Well, over time it seems the dolphins would go out of their way to be at our dive spot each week and this morning's dive would be no exception.

The dive began normally, at least it seemed. After we were in the water for a time, the dolphins began acting very peculiar, like they were becoming frightened. Once our dive was complete and we were on our way back to shore, we could see what appeared to be big, dark clouds on the horizon. Within minutes, there were several helicopters flying out to sea from land, which it was normal to see a couple here and there, but we counted at least 7 and they seemed to be heading in the same direction.

When we returned to shore we learned of the oil rig explosion and sinking and that there was an oil leak in the Gulf. This is not the first time this has happened, so we thought all the added fuss would soon pass within a few days and life would return to normal. Little did we understand the enormity of it all.

Within days, the bad news kept getting worse and due to the spreading of the oil we could not continue our weekly dives, which was the highlight of our week for the past few years. We had discussed the fate of our diving buddies, the dolphins, but we assumed they would be ok. I mean after all, there is a lot of water in the Gulf of Mexico, and dolphins are smart.

With matters continuing to get worse and the oil soaking our beaches to the point that I could no longer take my morning walks, my mind kept thinking about our aquatic friends. One day, we decided to go against the grain and at least take our boat out to our diving spot and see if we could see our friends. When we arrived to our normal diving location, we could not believe our eyes. The beautiful blue water that we had dived into so many times, was completely reddish brown and gooey. Our thoughts immediately went to our dolphin friends and wondering if they were safe. It had only been days before that we heard a report about dolphins being killed by this oil and we all hoped beyond hope that our friends were safe, but by the look on the water, hope may not hold out for long.

It was getting late and we decided to return home. While en route as we made our way through miles of oil that would be briefly broken up by clear water, Jo yelled out and about made me jump off the side of the boat. I asked her what is wrong Jo? She said to look off the starboard side, which I did. What I saw took my breath away. I saw 3 dolphins swimming beside our boat and immediately we knew they were our friends. Alex stopped the boat and off to the side of the boat I saw 3 of the prettiest smiles I had ever seen coming up out of the water. Our friends were safe, at least for now. 2 of them had some oil on their backs which we gladly wiped off. I wish we could have stayed with them, but it was time to leave for home. They followed us for a ways before swimming back to sea. Although I have not been back to our spot for a few weeks now, I can't help but wonder if they are still safe from the man made atrocity, but somehow I think they are just fine.

Great story!

Another fine writer on ATS from the looks of it.

It's gonna be a tough judging it seems .

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Thank you for those kind words. Makes me feel a little better.

This is my first attempt at writing outside of research papers that I had to do in school.

reply to post by Wayne60


Could have fooled me.

I hope to see more of your work on the forums. You should think about joining a collaboration at some point. They are a lot of fun.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I had actually been looking into either writing or research, but really wasn't sure if I could contribute anything or not. I must admit that writing this was a lot of fun.

reply to post by Wayne60


Creating anything is a lot of fun, showing it to people and bettering yourself is funner .

~Keeper

Originally posted by Wayne60
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

Thank you for those kind words. Makes me feel a little better.

This is my first attempt at writing outside of research papers that I had to do in school.

You definitely showed it in your writing!
I loved it and the use of animals

reply to post by BlackPoison94


Thank you. I am glad you liked it.

Hopefully I can do better in the future.

reply to post by Wayne60


Well done. I'm always a sucker for a good animal story. I hope many of the dolphins are a lucky as the ones in your story.
Great for your first short story.

reply to post by shapeshiftress


Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it.

I too hope most of the wild life survive, although many have not.

Good job on the story! I loved the viewpoint of animal safety that you used! Keep up the good work!

Good job! I enjoyed the story very much, and appreciated the (somewhat) happy ending.

Well done.
Great first attempt.

I've spent several years living along the gulcoast and this really pulled at my heartstings. Good job!

Thank you all so very much.

You are too kind.

Man it's stories like these that make you realise just how big of a mess this whole gulf oil stuff has become.

I truly hope the sea life can live with the mess we are making.

Great story friend.

My thoughts are continuously on our diving friends. I cannot imagine what those creatures are going through right now. The whole situation makes me sick. I loved your story though and I truly hope that those Diving Friends are safe as well.