[dawnb]

We recently snorkeled with the whale sharks off Isla Mujures, and it was spectacular! However, I watched in horror as one totally idiotic GOOF, with his mickey mouse GLOVES on, kept stroking one of the big guys five or six times!!! He wasn't going to stop until I was able to alert our DM who admonished him before I could chew the guy's ankle off. What a TWIT!

[ccannon707]

Maybe it's different in Isla Mujeres, but when I saw the whale sharks in Holbox it was strictly supervised. Only 2 snorkelers at a time with the guide in the water and we were instructed beforehand about stuff like not touching them. I was impressed by the seriousness and dedication of the local guides and boat capitans. Good for you on pointing out this moron to the DM. This is not a theme park experience ala kissing the dolphins.

[dawnb]

Same rules as Holbox, which we did last year. Very strict, as it should be. This dolt was a lone jerk and I didn't see anyone being responsible for him. There were maybe 25 other boats around. I'm thinking an independent maybe with his own boat. I think gloves are strictly prohibited. Unless he was a burn victim, what would the nimrod need gloves for?

I saw a guy stroke a shark bare-handed last year on Holbox, and also reported it. Apparently some people are just plain stupid.

[chumpuppy]

There's nothing wrong with gently caressing a whale shark. the only issue is we should not stimulate these critters to the point of sexual desire that may result in rough contact. Other than that it's fine.

[dawnb]

Perhaps these bozos needed a little "rough contact." Kinda gives a whole new meaning to the SW(pick your animal). Have read that dolphins can get extremely, er, amorous when swimming with people.

[CZMDM]

I have been in pods of Dolphins while they were having some kind of Dolphin orgy. It can get wild, especially with the males launching themselves out of the water and then slamming back into the group with a 2 foot woody. I took a communiversity course on Dolphin behaviour in Florida and learned a couple of odd things: Dolphins can be bi-sexual. Dolphins are one of the few animals on earth that will have sex for solely recreational purposes. And yes it is not uncommon for male Dolphins to "hook" a humans arm or leg with an erection while trying to interact although they are not trying to have inter-specie sex.

Per the whale sharks: I don't want to sound like an ecco-terrorist and I know it is against the rules, but I really believe that a 30 foot fish is quite immune to being petted by a human.

[nauticab]

mike you just put some very strange visions in my head and i am off to sleep. i wonder what weird dreams will come of this!

[CZMDM]

In the South Florida ICW there are hundreds of Dolphin and taking any boat trip without seeing them is rare. Right before moving here we were in our boat going from Naples, North to Captiva Island and about 200 yards off-shore from Sannibel Island we came across about 15 of them going just nuts. We anchored about 10 feet away from them and they stayed for about a half an hour. The water has very low viz there so it was hard to see what they were doing. But every so often one would launch itself like 7 feet in the area and crash back into the pod that was just in a frenzy. It looked like they were having so much fun I felt like jumping right in the middle.

Hope you slept well D.

[nauticab]

i have to say thank goodness i didn't dream of dolphin genitals.
but, thanks for the stories

[DaveSI]

CZMDM, on 25 August 2010 - 09:01 PM, said:

It can get wild, especially with the males launching themselves out of the water and then slamming back into the group with a 2 foot woody.

I'd be jumping up and down if I had a two foot woody, too.

[nauticab]

oh my goodness this thread took a funny turn! love it!