Jamie Rood
Captain John Ward
found only in an area along the South Carolina and Georgia
coast. The animals who practice the feeding seem to be
those members of pods that live and feed permanently
around tidal creeks in the lowcountry marshes.
The essence of strand feeding is simply two or
more dolphins working together to herd a school of fish,
driving the school close to a sloping sand or mud bank.
When the fish are penned against the shore, the dolphins
launch their bodies and the fish onto the sand. For some
reason, they always perform this maneuver on their right
sides and then flip flop back into the water.
Thirty years after the canoe trip with my son, my
granddaughter Sophia, age 7, asked to go kayaking. She
has her own small, sleek kayak that she uses when we
explore the river. We went out at low tide so there would
Jamie Rood
be a better chance of seeing the strand feeding that she had
heard so much about.
We headed for the inlet and watched pelicans
and terns dive for fish around us. At the bend in the river,
Sophia aimed her kayak toward the wide sandbank where
we could get out to swim. But, just as we approached,
there was a great bow wave created by dolphins throwing
themselves and the fish they had corralled onto the sand.
We floated mesmerized, watching them wriggle back into
the water and repeat the procedure a couple of yards farther
down.
At that moment, I knew this was the greatest
gift I could give to my children and grandchildren. An
experience of a lifetime that teaches about cooperation,
respect, and love for all creatures. n
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