The dolphins often have suckerfish, called Remoras on their bodies. At first these fish seem benign. They may even be removing parasites on the skin of the dolphins. But I have noticed that eventually they begin to cause wounds on the dolphins where they eat away the flesh, especially in the area near the base of the dorsal fin. These Remora fish are one of the reasons that Spinner dolphins do so much aerial spinning. They are trying to dislodge these fish and send them flying into the water. Often you will see a dolphin spinning over and over again in an attempt to remove the pesky Remora.

One day, my dolphin friend, Stitches, had one of these suckerfish on his body. He had been trying to remove it, unsuccessfully, spinning in the air repeatedly. They are not easy to remove. Finally he swam over to me and looked in my eye. Obviously receiving some kind of communication from him, I asked, "Do you want me to try and remove it?" He came closer alongside so the Remora was in easy reach of my hands, nearly stopped swimming altogether and waited. Uncertain, I reached out slowly to the left side of Stitches' back, but the Remora was too fast for me. Seeing my approaching hand, he scooted to the right side. My hand followed the suckerfish, around Stitches back. Stitches began to squirm, so I gave up and righted myself in the water waiting to see what he wanted to do. Stitches circled around and returned, to give me another try. This time I was faster, immediately grabbed the Remora from his back and threw it off. The fish didn't like being without a home base, so it attached itself to my leg. (They do this from time to time when I am swimming among the dolphins.) I have noticed that when I swim slowly, the fish does not hurt, but if I dive or swim fast, the Remora holds on very tightly and it becomes painful. This is why the dolphins eventually attempt to remove them from their bodies. For me it was easy to reach down and remove the fish with my hands and swim away.
Not all the dolphins seek our help with the Remoras and I would never remove one unless the dolphin asked me to. It's a cooperative effort!

In the winter of 1998, the U.S. Navy was conducting low frequency active sonar tests in Hawaiian waters. I had been swimming among Hawaiian dolphins for a decade and I noticed changes in the Spinner pods during these tests. Often they were bunched together on the surface, sometimes keeping their heads above water. Also, their sounds were very loud, constant and disturbed. Perhaps, they were concerned for their friends, the Humpback Whales who were adversely affected by this sonar and had to leave the Big Island waters altogether to escape the sounds.
During the testing, I was on a boat when I heard a radio call from another boat captain who was searching for me. There was a dolphin in distress and they were asking for my help. I immediately motored to their location to find a confused young Spinner dolphin who seemed unable to locate her mother. She had been swimming erratically on the surface for quite a while now. Yet I could see a pod of approximately 100 Spinners, not 500 feet away. I entered the water and attempted to swim to her. She had injuries on her underside and a round cookie-cutter shark bite on her right flank. Her eyes were wide. She was scared, and evaded me. There were no adult dolphins around her. I waited, resting in my boat until she came close again. Then, slipping quietly into the water, I was able to swim alongside her and position myself slightly ahead of her. She easily moved into my water flow field or slipstream. In a very short time I felt her relax and become calm as we swam side by side together. She remained at my side, close by, in the way she would swim with her mother.
Now I was able to gently swim with her to the nearby pod, where she gratefully joined the other Spinners. Captain Claudia named her "Lucky" meaning lucky to be alive!

©Joan Ocean, 2000-2002 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]