Unforgettable summer encounter with dolphins off the Sardinian coast

Un giorno d'estate in Sardegna

One day during the summer holidays I was sailing with some family friends off the coast of Sardinia. It was a hot sunny day, the sea was flat and there was only a light breeze pushing the boat forward at a lazy speed of less than 3 knots. It was so hot that we decided to take off the sails and stop for a swim before lunch was ready. When we dove in the blue water it was cool and refreshing. We were diving and spraying water to each other when the captain of the boat shouted from the deck: “Dolphins!”

And there, there were five of them, swimming slowly underwater and I could see them with my mask a few meters from us. They were at least two meters long, and I'm not exaggerating, and light grey on the sides. Only after I went beck home I learned that they were known as Striped dolphins.

While they were passing below us, some vaguely turned their heads toward us, some showed their bellies. And then I heard their sounds; some very fast trains of tic-tic-tic and a whistle. I’m sure they were looking at us and commenting our strange appearance. My heart was thumping hard and my skin had goose-bumps.

L'addio ai delfini

It must have taken less than a minute and then they were too far away to see from the water, but it was the most extraordinary encounter I have ever had.