Johnnie Boe was snorkeling off the coast of Corinth, Greece, in the summer of 2020 when he suddenly found himself face-to-face with two wild bottlenose dolphins. He froze, assuming the dolphins would simply pass him by, but one didn’t want to leave.
“One of them seemed curious — most likely because I was freediving with a monofin,” Boe told The Dodo. “That moment changed my life.”
Johnnie Boe
Boe was in awe of his new friend. And even though the dolphin eventually swam away, Boe had a feeling that they would meet again. So, he started returning to that same spot twice a week, hoping to reunite.
“I would wait for hours in the water, often with no luck. This continued for about a month and a half,” Boe said. “Still, I didn’t give up.”
Finally, after nearly two months of weekly visits, the same dolphin appeared again. Boe was elated — and it seemed as though the dolphin was just as thrilled to see his long-lost friend.
“[He] stayed with me for a while,” Boe said. “After that, our meetings became more frequent.”
Johnnie Boe
Boe’s regular meetups with the dolphin became the highlight of his snorkeling routine. It wasn’t always guaranteed that he’d encounter the dolphin while free diving off the coast, but whenever his friend did appear, they enjoyed simply swimming together.
Until one day, in the spring of 2021, the dolphin appeared with something peculiar tucked under his fin.
“It was something like nylon, tangled around his dorsal fin,” Boe said. “He seemed to be showing it off.”
Johnnie Boe
Boe was amazed. The dolphin had never brought him anything before, and it seemed like he’d presented it with a specific purpose.
“At that time, I was sure he had brought it just to play,” Boe said. “He would let it go so I could catch it, and then I’d return it to him. It felt like a game we were sharing.”
You can watch the dolphin bring Boe plastic trash here:
The dolphin eventually swam off that day, but he returned during Boe’s next snorkeling trip with yet another piece of plastic. Boe was astounded to see the dolphin playing with more trash, but he sadly wasn’t surprised.
“Unfortunately, plastic pollution in Greece is a very serious problem, and it is impossible to ignore it once you start paying attention,” Boe said. “Plastic waste has become a constant presence in the marine environment, harming wildlife and turning even the most beautiful coastlines into dumping grounds.”
Johnnie Boe
Sometimes, after a fun play session, the dolphin would take the piece of trash back into the ocean with him. But other times, he’d leave it in Boe’s hands, and the diver would swiftly remove it from the water.
The dolphin soon caught on to Boe’s mission and began to act accordingly. Instead of taking the trash back with him each time, the dolphin started letting Boe keep it, and together, they became a pollution-fighting duo.
“I think this change in behavior happened because, at some point, I started collecting garbage from the sea — mostly plastic water bottles — and he saw me doing it several times,” Boe said. “Now he lets me keep it — after a short play session, of course. A game is a game.”
You can watch the dolphin give Boe a plastic trash bag here:
Over the next few years, Boe’s bond with the dolphin only strengthened. The devoted diver now spends around 100 days a year traveling to the coast of Corinth just to hang out with his finned buddy and remove plastic from the ocean.
Of course, it’s impossible to schedule a meeting time with a dolphin, so Boe doesn’t always get to see him on his trips. But he’s OK with that. He still shows up anyway and waits as long as needed until his trusted friend finds him.
“The crazy part is that he’s not always there. Sometimes it takes three to five weeks before I see him again,” Boe said. “You can’t make an appointment with wildlife.”
To keep up with Boe’s adventures with the dolphin, you can follow him on Instagram.
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