A Fin

It finally happened: yesterday in the water I saw a FIN about 30 feet away from me. I even saw a little bit of the body underneath the fin. My world turned to ice that moment, and I shouted, "OH MY GOD! Did you see that?" to the (off-duty?) life guard who was catching waves next to me. He assured me it was a dolphin. "Are you sure?" "Positive. They hang out here all the time." All the time?? That is a frightening thought. Not only am I going to start panicking every time I see a dolphin, lest it be a shark, but it also can't bode well regarding predators in the area. It used to be that way too with the sea otters in Santa Cruz: it's sort of nice to see them frolicking around you, cracking shellfish on their bellies...but you can't really shake the foreboding that they're a sign of populated waters.

If it weren't for the sharks, it would have been rather nice to see a dolphin in the wild, swimming with me. As it was, I exited the water posthaste.