Dolphins?

Though my wife and I spent three weeks on STX we didn't see a single dolphin. I think this time of year they move northward allong the US coast as the waters warm up. They follow the fish as they too move up through the Gulf Stream towards Main.
As far as dangers on the beaches, STX is surrounded by reef that 'break' the harsh currents, so nothing to worry about there. The only things I can think of are sea urchins and fire coral that would cause a problem if you are not careful.

I wish this were the true land of Flipper and that he/she resided right off the beach where I live. Unfortunately that is not the case.

There are two dolphins that seem to "reside" off Cruz Bay on St.John. Mother and daughter I have been told and I am supposed to know their names but have alas forgotten them.

Twice I have seen, what I assume to be these same two dolphins, visiting the waters in the bay by the house, but they don't stay very long.

A surfer friend in California has dolphins surfing around them all the time - and awesome sight.....wish that it were true here, but sadly it is not. I am not sure why, but these are not their waters. I doubt that the issue is predators.

There are dolphins around in Vessup Bay part of the year, Paul.

While it is not likely that you can walk on the beach and see them, seeing them while sailing is quite common during the warmer winter months here. They, like everyone else, love to winter here.

Whale sightings were good this year as well.

The STT beaches I have visited don't commonly have any "hazards" except pina coladas, painkillers and forgetting to put on your sun block.

Pamela

Hello kc,

Agree with the comments posted already.

I'd say the biggest hazard is the sun. 30 minutes of snorkeling between say 10:30am and 1:30pm without sunblock on and you might just have a very bad sunburn.

Urchins - look out for them when snorkeling, walking near rocks.

Jellyfish - during some months of the year jellyfish come into some bays. Magens Bay on St. Thomas, for example, gets them, I think its usually around July. If there are a lot of them the beach management people at Magens will put out a big sign at the entrance. They aren't deadly but pack a mean sting. And if you got stung by a lot of them, you might have an allergic reaction and get sick.

Sharks - I had read in a dive book about the VI that over the past century only 4 shark attacks had been reported in Virgin Islands waters. When you ask residents on St. Thomas they typically can only recall one - the one mentioned below.

"On April 20, 1963 a 10-foot ridge-back carcharhinid shark attacked and killed Lt. John Gibson, USN who was swimming at the surface in Magens Bay, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands without swim mask or flippers. This is apparently the first authenticated shark attack in the Virgin Islands..."

It's uncommon to even see them, and if you do its likely to be a nurse shark.

Currents - some beaches have stronger currents/waves then others. For example Dorothea Beach on St. Thomas is often rough - its not a popular swimming beach for this reason. Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas, if you snorkle out from the penisula toward a little cay there is a current around there that is pretty strong but the beach itself is typically calm with no strong currents. Out at Waterlemon Cay on St. John, a popular spot for snorkeling, the current on the back side of the cay that faces out to the open ocean can sometimes have a strong current.

Coral - when snorkeling don't touch them. You will hurt them by touching them and they can hurt you (sting, cuts).

So wear sunblock and watch where you step when around rocks and your ok.

--Islander

Hi! I just happened to read something relevant to this question in the mag, July 2005 Caribbean Travel & Life, in the Postcards section. The Topic was to describe your most memorable snorkelling experience. A woman wrote in that she lived in the USVI for 10 years and her best snorkelling experience was while boating off Point Udall on the East End of St. Croix. They jumped in the water for a snorkel and had several dolphins swim around and around them for awhile before leaving. I imagine that must have been a once in a life time type of experience!! Lucky her!!

I know UVI students who snorkeled with a pod of dolphin in Brewer's Bay this last year. Have also seen them off Thatch Cay when scuba diving twice,swam with one in Maho Bay. In the BVI they seem to love the channel between Tortola and Guana Island and almost always see them on the way to Anegada (open water.) These are occasional, not frequent sightings, but you must be alert. They like boat wakes.

hi everyone

I've been lurking for awhile - great site!- and had to respond to this thread. I've been living on STX for 5 years now, and about 3 years ago, think it was November, I swam with dolphins at Sandy Point!!!!! I think it was a mother dolphin and an older child, the smaller one swam close to the larger one and didn't leave much. There were a bunch of people in the water at the time and the dolphins hung out with us all for about 10 minutes or so, swimming amongst us and teasing us but never letting us touch them. The water was crystal clear that day and it was such an amazing thing to snorkel amongst the dolphins, seeing their beautiful bodies against the pure sandy bottom of the ocean floor. Since that day, I have seen dolphins at Sandy Point - about twice, I think - but they have been out in the deep, traveling fast, and have not stopped to see who was on shore. I have also seen them occasionally on day trips to Buck Island, "bow surfing". So dolphins are here, but they only come around when they want to!

I was in STX for a month in apr/may. I saw 2 dolphins at point udal and several in F'sted between the pier and sandy point

kc-
I'm a dolphin lover myself and soon hope to study Marine Biology. Don't know much about dolphins in the Virgin Islands but if you travel the Caribbean I can reccommend a few great places to come in contact with dolphins.

Turks and Caicos Providenciales is where the famous JoJo the dolphin lives. She lives at the public beach and is very friendly. Don't know the website but type JoJo the dolphin and it will come up.

Bimini Bahamas has a boat trip called The Dolphin Experience. Apparently there are a couple of dolphins that were once captive and now live in the wild and they still respond to comands. Kinda neat because you can be interactive and still be out in their environment where in some places it is controlled. Hard to do w/ wild dolphins as your not supposed to touch or feed them.

On STX the next best thing is to swim with Sammy the stingray at Buck Island.

I know you wanted info on dolphins in USVI but had to share this extra info just incase you were a dolphin freak like myself and would give my right arm to swim with them.