I first encountered dolphins about seven or eight years after I had started diving. In Ogasawara, which I visited to go diving, I happened to have some free time so I went on a dolphin swim tour and encountered dolphins. Until then, I had only gone to the ocean to go diving, so I wasn't that good at swimming without dive gear. So, wearing a life jacket, I floated on top of the ocean and was happy just to watch the dolphins under the sea. However, I saw one of the participants practically dancing under the water, swimming around with the dolphins like she was a dolphin herself, and was impressed. Watching this, I thought to myself, " I want to swim with the dolphins, too!"

Soon after I got back from my trip to Ogasawara, I started going to the pool. This was to take a dolphin swim course in order to be able to swim with the dolphins. I continued going, enduring many hardships, until I was able to swim like the dolphins. Two years after my encounter with the dolphins at Ogasawara, I left for Ogasawara again in order to see the dolphin. This time, I swam with the dolphins that I had only watched before and, if they met my eyes, dive with them, and they played with me under the sea to my heart's content. I was so happy. That day, I thought to myself, " I really want to be a dolphin!" Next, I, who had come to feel more and more strongly about the dolphins, studied yoga to learn breath control and took a free-diving course in order to be able to dive deeper and longer with the dolphins. Now, I have become one with the dolphins under the water.
(YumikoS)