Elizabeth A. Leib

by Elizabeth A. Leib

Two questions fired through Mitzvahboy’s brain as Kristie, our Discovery Cove dolphin trainer welcomed us into the water to introduce us to a ten year old dolphin named CJ. We stood in thigh high water along with another family of five adults contentedly petting the friendly 600 pound creature as he swam from one end of our line to the other. Kristie narrated with details about the dolphins at Discovery Cove, how they are trained, how they flirt, the meaning of their whistles and clicks, about the scratches on the upper surface of CJ’s skin and so on before Mitzvahboy shouted out, “is it a boy or a girl?”

The teenagers chuckled and I flinched, hoping Christie wouldn’t mind the interruption. She engaged the question after gracefully finishing her sentence and then gave CJ a hand signal. The dolphin responded by rolling over, floating in front of us as Christie pointed out the long thin line on the lower part of CJ’s white belly. She explains that boy dolphins have one line on lower belly beneath the tail while girls have three. Clearly not the dramatic visual Mitzvahboy was hoping for. As we all gazed quietly and appreciatively at the dolphin floating upside down for our benefit, Mitzvahboy shouts out, “is the dolphin going to the bathroom?? There is a hole mid-way on the dolphin’s tummy that looks sorta’ like a belly button. We could see a thin brown liquid seaping out from the hole. Pulled from my reverie, I uncomfortably wondered how Christie would handle this question.

There was a long pause, as Christie hesitated before admitting that yes, it was true, it was dolphin poop. She quickly moved on although Mitzvahboy tried to press the moment by shouting that we should all leave the water. It was a silly boy-kid moment. But it is the story he tells everyone. Christie switched gears by handing Mitzvahboy a fish treat to give to CJ. We then learned how to give CJ hand signals instructing him to wave his flippers at us and to do a flip. The most exciting moment for me came when we each had the chance to be pulled a few yards by CJ, placing one hand on his dorsal fin and one hand on a flipper. It was a wonderful experience, playing with a large animal that was as expressive and responsive to our caresses as our beloved Fluffy. I hope we can do it again.