Dolphins Displaced by Hurricane Melissa Ride Out the Storm in an Apartment’s Swimming Pool
On the north coast of Jamaica, a half-moon-shaped island of Ocho Rios nestles with turquoise waters, flanked by looming hills. Dubbed “Eight Rivers” in Spanish, the town welcomes thousands of tourists each year. A morass of marine parks tucked into the island allows visitors to paddle in their boats and interact with dolphins. This year, however, the violent blusters of Hurricane Melissa have isolated, not just the tourists, but also the residents, who are forced to stay in an unwilling lockdown or evacuate their homes. Despite the undercurrent of destruction pervading the island, some dolphins are having the best time of their lives. The Weather Channel recently shared footage showing some dolphins displaced from the water by Melissa were transported to the safety of a swimming pool.
The footage displays a rectangular pool plunged inside an open-air courtyard built inside an apartment complex. A few moments into the footage, emerging from the teal green waters of the swimming pool appear some dolphins. “These dolphins rode out Hurricane Melissa in the safety of the residential pool,” the channel wrote in the overlay caption. Gliding through the waters, the dolphins appeared carefree and undeterred by the ferocity of Melissa unleashing outdoors.
About 10 dolphins, the channel revealed, were moved from the marine park to two apartment pools. Seeing the playful dolphins ducking in and out of the pool, the viewers became concerned about whether the disinfectant chemicals would harm them. But wrapping up the video, the channel clarified that chlorine was already removed from the pool and dolphins “seemed happy in their temporary home.”
It’s not just the dolphins. As Melissa lashes over Jamaica’s coastlines, officials have also warned locals to stay aware of crocodiles crawling out of the water and heading towards their residential areas. In a Facebook post, the Ceta Base Diving Center shared that the Dolphin Cove, a popular marine park in Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, recently relocated around 35 bottlenose dolphins into pools ahead of Melissa, to keep them safe.
Although Melissa has now retreated towards Cuba, it has left massive destruction in Jamaica, including Ocho Rios. With sustained winds sloshing at 185 miles per hour, Melissa has flattened trees and dismantled buildings. Nearly three-quarters of the country has been blanketed by power cuts and has been left isolated by disconnected phones. “Images of destruction are all around,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness described to the BBC. Floodwaters are rising to flood two-story homes. Roads have turned into pools, and mudslides are dribbling down hilly slopes. Even roofs made of solid metal are flying away like saucers in the wind.
In Ocho Rios, a Cumberland couple recently arrived for their honeymoon, which soon turned into the episode of a dystopian movie, as reported by KFOX 14 TV. Jamaica, the Land of Springs, is seemingly turning into a land of killings. Amidst this undertow of destruction, these untroubled dolphins are teaching us to remain calm, happy if possible.
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