Southern Dolphins are Friendlier

Lets talk about stereotypes.  Northerners and Southerners.  I've heard many Northerners I know who now live in the South tell me they love how all the Southerners are so friendly compared to back home (and yes, I get to hear all the other Southerner stereotypes too).  Now we both know this stereotype is not always true.  It is exactly that - just a stereotype.   But after the experience my family had recently, it got me thinking - are southern dolphin friendlier than northern dolphin?

We recently visited Charleston one weekend and I took the family out on a paddling adventure on the intracoastal side of Folly Beach.  About 15 minutes into our paddle, the first dolphin appeared.  Then others came.  And they stuck around.  For a long time.  They were curious and of course, friendly.  Which got me thinking, since we were in Charleston, about the Northerner/Southerner stereotype and wondering if dolphins up north do this.  After all, coastal dolphins like to stick around in shallower waters and don't have a big migration range.  So there are dolphin Northerners and dolphin Southerners (although perhaps the dolphin Northerners like to travel south in winter too?).

They were popping up on one side of our boards, then swimming under us to pop up on the other side.  The kids were a little alarmed at first, but then they started paddling towards the dolphin.  Given that hundreds of dolphin have unfortunately been ending up on the beaches up and down the east coast this year and dying from a measles like virus, it was good to see these guys.  There were a couple very young ones too.  So hopefully they are healthy and stay that way.  

What a great experience.  As I mentioned to others recently, this is why I go through the trouble of hauling 5 big SUP boards around - to create new memories for our family.  You never know what's around the corner when you go exploring.  The kids haven't stopped talking about it since.

If you're on a PC or Mac, double click on the first image to scroll through and view in large format.  At the end are some picture collages of the beautiful and historic Charleston architecture and scenery.  In my best Southern drawl (with grits) - I hope ya'll enjoy the pics now, you heeya?