A meeting with relatives

Dolphins in the Tanon Strait

A traveler across the Tanon Strait on board of ferry boats can sometimes see dolphins, as they accompany these vessels, before they continue their trip into the deep blue sea.

Tanon Strait is the waterway between Bantayan Islands, ten nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) west of the northern tip of Cebu and twenty miles (37 kilometers) northeast of Negros - round hundred miles (185 kilometers) long from north to south to the "intersection" with the Cebu Strait at the southern tip of the island of Cebu. It is not one of the "hi-ways" with heavy inter-island traffic and so used as "waste disposer".

An industrial area is between Toledo and Balamban on the east coast of Cebu while agro-industrial production areas are in the cities of San Carlos, Negros Occidental, and Bais, Negros Oriental.

Offshore fishing is still the occupation of men in the towns around the Tanon Strait. Fishpond development for prawn and bangus production - particularly in Bais City which covres 468 hectares of the wetland and shoreline areas - is a growing industry.

At the southern part of Tanon Strait, more playful dolphins and several species of whales can be observed. These intelligentmammals are mostly in groups of ten to fifteen members. The water is clean and warm, but cooler in deeper zones.

The best time to see dolphins giving a free presentation of actobatic grace and kindness is in the morning hours when the wind is calm and the sea is glossy as a mirror. Going a few miles affshore to observe the fins in the ruffled surface must be done first. The engine must be turned off while waiting - to tive the dolphins or whalestime to "check up" who is in the area.

Whales are usually more shy and keep distance, dolphines come closer, jump out of the water, turn the boat around! A performance like this is comparable to the maritime zoos of Hawaii or Florida.

The only difference is the distance from the hectic bustle of a metropolis like Cebu to the home of the "closest relatives" of the human beings in the sea ..... only a two or three hour ride overland and few minutes by boat.

Alfred N. Bruckner