Day 5 - A Swim with Dolphins

Photo by Kim L.

Today we started driving north, toward home, from Key Largo to Miami. Our last trip adventure was at the Miami Seaquarium where we slipped back into wet suits for our dolphin encounter.  Then, with a few tears, we said goodbye to Florida to fly back to Cleveland.  It will be a while before we get to see 80 degrees and plentiful sunshine again.  It was a great trip full of amazing experiences but I'm sure everyone is happy to see family, friends, and sleep in their own beds.  I want to thank all of the students for their great attitudes, eagerness to learn, and endless smiles.  My favorite quote of the trip came from Maria, who would loudly proclaim EVERYDAY, "Mrs. Sutterlin, this is my new favorite!"  Thank you Maria for your zest for life.  Thank you to Veronica and Dakota for your fabulous pictures!  National Geographic look out!  Thank you to Josh, Gabe, and Ian for your endless questions, great discussions, and for putting up with all the estrogen - you're troopers.  Thank you Jordann for your incredible paddling skills.  No one could thread the needle of those narrow channels like we could.  Go team!  Thank you Emma for your tenacity.  You kicked that stomach bug right in the teeth and came out smiling.  You go girl!  Thank you Brita, Barbara, and

Photo by Kim L.

Natalie for your entertaining skit - it was quite the dramatic scene and really expressed the importance of biodiversity, tolerance, and community.  Thank you Ms. Mowery for your astrological insights and enthusiasm.  Thank you parents for valuing educational travel and for giving your children the opportunity to travel and explore with me.  A very special thank you to Kim, our World Strides Program Leader, for all of her guidance, knowledge, and positive attitude.  This trip just wouldn't have been as great without you.  It was a real pleasure to travel with you all and I look forward to future trips!  Take care,

~ Mrs. Sutterlin

Miami Seaquarium Dolphin Swim ~ by; Ian J.

To finish off our spectacular Florida journey we went to the Miami Seaquarium to have one last amazing event to add to our collection of memories. We had a chance to get in the water and swim with the wonderful Bottlenose Dolphins.  First, we learned about dolphins. In the wild they are able to live up to 20-30 years, while in human care the oldest is 61 years and still currently living.  Also, the main difference between a male and female dolphin is that the male has exclamation mark and female
division sign underneath. The tail fin and the dorsal fin are unique to each dolphin, like a finger print is for humans, no two are the same each one is unique. Once we got in the water, we met the social group.  Social groups live together, and our group included three male teenage boys, I related

well to them. Their names were Echo, Ripley, and Abaco. We were able to pet them anywhere behind head. Then we gave them a kiss which was a lot of fun.   After I kissed Abaco he started to click I was the only one to get a response out of anyone, so either he hated it or liked it a bit too much (yeah, he liked it). After we gave them a hand shake we stood at the edge of the deep water and held out are hand.  The dolphins jumped up and we held their pectoral fin. Again I had a unique experience as it caught a football right before so it held it in its mouth as we shook hand. Afterwards Echo took me for a ride belly to belly. I had the biggest smile on my face which was problematic with all the salt water splashing in my face. When we waved goodbye to them and they waved back with their tail fins it was very emotional for everybody.

Photo by Maria L.

            Afterwards we explored the rest of the Seaquarium; we saw more alligators, more manatees, a baby dolphin which was adorable, and a peacock that spread out all of its feathers. There was a pool with about thirty rays swimming around that we pet and felt like slimy dolphins. I could watch the rays swim forever they are such beautiful swimmers. We all then when to the Killer Whale show, which featured a Killer Whale with four Pacific White Sided Dolphins.  The Pacific Dolphins are the fastest dolphin and jump about twenty-five feet in the air. The Killer Whale made huge splashes they got most people soaked. It was a wonderful way to end our journey.