Swim with dolphins in Mozambique – The craziest wildlife encounters

What is it like to swim with dolphins in Mozambique?” This is what we asked our guest author, Cassie, who has spent 90 days in the water, swimming with wild dolphins in Ponta Do Ouro, Mozambique.

 

Swimming with wild dolphins (& more) in Mozambique

I don’t know about you, but ever since I was little, it was always a dream of mine to one day swim with dolphins (or be a mermaid). I’ve been pretty obsessed with them for as long as I can remember. Reading nothing but cetacean and ocean books as I was growing up.

As I got older, I got a degree in Natural history photography and eventually became a scuba instructor. In July 2018, I was lucky enough to spend 3 swimming with wild dolphins in Mozambique. There I did a research internship with Dolphin Encountours Research Centre in Ponta Do Ouro. They basically take guests to swim with dolphins, while gathering data and information at the same time to add to the ongoing research. Sounds like the dream right? It was…let me tell you more.

 

Join me for a swim with the local dolphins of Ponta Do Ouro, Mozambique

The photo above is of baby Ripple. He is a juvenile Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, the main species in Ponta. Ripple was the first dolphin that interacted with me on my arrival. I remember him being so playful, clicking & whistling continuously, but doing it all with a sense of caution while always checking mum was still around. I can’t quite explain how it feels to be eye to eye with a dolphin, knowing how smart they are. I always wonder what they are thinking when they see us…but that mystery just makes it more enticing.

Ripple wasn’t the only dolphin I met. In fact, in one of our morning snorkel sessions we were greeted by over 40 dolphins at once! It was a quick swim by as they were resting so didn’t want to interact. But it was still a beautiful thing to witness.

By the end of my 3 months, I was able to personally recognise a handful of the dolphins. This is nothing compared to the owner Angie who knows almost 200 by name!

It’s a hard to describe the feeling of having an almost personal bond with certain dolphins; they recognise you and can get a sense of how you are feeling from their echolocation. I remember being told a beautiful story of a guest who was pregnant when snorkelling, then a pregnant dolphin swam up to her & interacted with her in a way like the dolphin knew there was a baby in her belly. They really are incredible mammals.

Some of the dolphins would even bring us gifts or show off & play with ocean ‘toys’ such as seaweed, shells, Tube Worm’s and sometimes pieces of plastic – a sad reality we see a lot in our oceans.

 

Life as a volunteer instead of a guest

When doing a research internship like I did here, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes on during and after hours. One of the main reasons for the snorkelling with dolphins is to learn about them first-hand in the water. So yes, seeing them is a huge part of the research, but there is so much more to just swim with the dolphins here in Mozambique.

Here are a few examples of extra activities I got to participate in:

• Skeleton structure & building
• Inputting data about dolphins seen on each day
• Beach cleans
• Burial & recovery of whale/dolphin bones for future museums
• Research days (no guests)

I was also able to use my degree and act as filmmaker for the social media when I was there. I spent a lot of time making short videos of our interactions. I loved how as volunteers we could do ‘everything’ but also focus more on what we are strongest at. So for me I’m less into science but more into creating, hence my bigger role being photography.

 

Other species in the area

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose, Spinner & Humpback Dolphins aren’t the only cetaceans that inhabit these waters.

Whales – Migration season

Between the months of July-October, Humpback whales start their migration from Antarctica to warmer waters & breeding grounds (some are just off the coast of South Africa), so if you love whales (like me), I would recommend visiting in those months. It’s winter at that time, so the ocean is a bit colder, but the whales are TOTALLY worth it. We even got to jump in with them a couple of times.

We also had the pleasure of seeing the odd turtle or manta ray and in the summer months, spotting’s of whale sharks are not rare.

 

Sharks – 108 species in Mozambique

Don’t forget I am talking about Africa here, so of course there are plenty of SHARKS! Which is where I’ll go onto talk a little bit about diving here too. It’s recorded that there are around 108 species of shark and ray in Mozambique alone.

We could sometimes tell if there were bigger predators in the water (shark or maybe Orca) as the dolphins would disappear. We would go up and down the coast searching, seeing maybe one of our finned friends if we were lucky. But I’m not going to say no to sharks, I love sharks! Which brings me onto shark diving in Ponta.

I wasn’t able to do too many shark dives as my main focus was being with the dolphins. However, in the few I did do I was able to see species such as the Tiger shark, Bull shark, Silvertip shark and Dusky shark. Sightings of Hammerheads & White sharks are also possible. And if you were really lucky, even the dolphins would give you an underwater swim by.

 

My most special moment: a “Circle swim” with 4 dolphins in Mozambique

Most divers probably have a moment in the ocean that they will cherish more than anything. Maybe this is an interaction or seeing your favourite animal. For me, this moment happened just a few days before I was due to head home.

We were snorkelling one day with a small pod of dolphins, when suddenly two of them cornered me off from the group and began to swim around me in a beautiful display known as a ‘Circle Swim’. Before I could realise what was going on, another one joined, then another. For 5 minutes I was swimming in a tight circle while 4 beautiful dolphins surrounded me. They were looking at me and interacting with me on a deep, personal level. I would say that from this moment, all of my dolphin dreams came true. Any future dolphins are just a bonus!

So yes, for all of you ocean lovers, I would put Mozambique and swimming with the dolphins of Ponta on that bucket list. It’s an experience of a lifetime!

And if you are looking for other mind-blowing places to swim with dolphins, check out Sataya Reef in Egypt!