I love dolphins. I’ve always thought they were wonderful creatures. That probably began when I never missed an episode of Flipper when I was a kid (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057748). If you know what I’m talking about you’re as old as I am.

When I traveled to Mexico years ago, I got a chance to swim with them off the Yucatan Peninsula. And it was wonderful. I’d do it again if I could.

Instead, I wrote a story about one and put it in my latest book, Smugglers of Sandhill Island. His name was Scar, and he was a hero. As I imagine all dolphins are. He was a friend to Dani and Cody at the dock where they fed him fish, and he turned into a lifesaver in the end.  I felt the story set on an island had to have a dolphin as a character and Scar was born.

Dolphins are known for being friendly mammals and their intelligence can be astounding. They recognize the whistles of other dolphins and there have been stories of them helping human swimmers in peril. They have a type of sonar that tells them how to get where they are going, and the bottle nose dolphin appears to have a permanent smile.

I’m squeamish when it comes to touching bugs, fish, or reptiles but when I got a chance to swim with these magnificent creatures, I couldn’t wait to touch them. And they didn’t seem to mind. The skin was smooth, and the muscles underneath were abnormally strong. But if you swam all day every day, you might be as buff. When I grabbed the dorsal fin and tried to hang on, I knew they would protect me. My biggest problem was keeping my legs out of the way of that powerful tail. I found bruises later, but I displayed them proudly. I swam with dolphins!  Later I got a kiss from one. At least, I thought it was a kiss. The dolphin was probably just doing what it was told.

Read about them at (Dolphin – Wikipedia). They are extraordinary creatures. Probably smarter than humans. I know Scar was. Check him out in Smugglers of Sandhill Island. You’ll want to be his friend.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?