By
Paul Eastoe
I took my two border collies Megan and Skye across the cliffs to Shelly Beach, Eastern Cape. This is a small bay bounded by two headlands no more than 300 metres apart and protected by a reef of rocks across the entrance. It’s a safe swimming beach. Just the other side of the reef 200 metres away I spotted a shoal of about twelve dolphins. They were seemingly feeding on some fish right up against the rocks. I walked out on to the western headland and watched them for some time. After a while they swam around the headland beneath me. Several jumped clean out of the water as they moved in towards the Bushman’s river mouth. I sat down on a rock and for the next hour or so watched one of the most remarkable spectacles I have ever witnessed.
As the incoming waves broke, so the dolphins surfaced in a perfect line and, as if racing each other, surfed in on the crest of each wave. As each wave died near the beach the dolphins swam back out to sea to repeat their game with the next wave. They seemed to have no fear of being beached on the sand even though a couple of times a dolphin had to waddle back to the water like a seal. The dolphins moved slowly away from me along the Bushman’s beach until they were finally just dots in the distance but still playing their games.
I suddenly came to and realised I had been sitting there entranced for so long that the dogs had fallen asleep by my feet and the sun was going down. It dawned on me no one else was around. Nobody else witnessed this most splendid extravaganza! It had all been entirely reserved just for me.
On the cliff above Shelly Beach there is a memorial stone in memory of a young girl who died in a plane crash there. The epitaph reads, “From the sky I can often see whales and dolphins. It feels like I am in Heaven.”
Editor's note: Isn't it true that we often feel, "close to heaven" when we see a spectacular natural scene? King David Israel, wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."
Maybe you can't take your dog to the E. Cape and sit and watch the dolphins at sunset, but next time you take doggie out, look up to the sky! There's a universal language that God uses to tell us of His existence and His glory.
Info about Border Collies & pic of Skye