Here is a highlight from my time sailing. It is an excerpt from a book in the works, Ocean of Insight: A Memoir on a Fluid Planet. Enjoy–H

Late in the morning, a squadron of pelicans assembles in the air, circles, and then peels apart as individuals dive headlong into the drink. There is a school of fish at a near distance to the bow. The animal’s repeated plunging is as graceful as a demolition derby. It’s slapstick humor.

A pod of dolphin off the port rail darts into the action; fins stitch above and below the water’s surface at breakneck speed. At once, the creek and air above churns in a chaos of mammals, birds, and fish. It is a raucous fresh seafood buffet. But this meal, it is really more than eating, isn’t it? I’m seeing pelicans bounce from the heads of dolphin and the slippery noses of mammals tag and toss birds. They are sharing a meal, cavorting playfully, thanking one another, and enjoying each other’s company. It is a kind of laughter, an inter-species frolic.

“Are you seeing this?” I ask my mates.

“This is so weird,” says Eland on top of Dave’s grunt of disbelief.

“Wow,” says Maggie. “They’re…like…hunting cooperatively.”

“And they’re fooling around to boot,” I add.

Minutes of happy turmoil pass before the predators fill and disperse to hidden niches of existence.