While walking on Nauset Beach with Rosie, we came across this Atlantic White Sided Dolphin. The sea-gulls had already begun feasting, and there were multiple wounds. After many conversations about the magnificence dolphins lately, it was saddening to see such a beautiful creature dead on the beach. Between their part in saving the Monterrey surfer from further shark bites, their stellar performance that morning at Ocean Beach, and Jane and Tesa's adventures in Florida, I have felt such an affinity for these brilliant animals. They are somehow connected to the human species; I know that they feel an affinity for us, and I can't help but feel loved by them. Of course I love them back. I feel protected by them every time I set foot in the ocean. They truly are guardian angels.

But everything is flowing, changing, being born, and dieing, and accepting that the soul of this creature had left it's incredible body was a necessity. As nature took its course, and sea-gulls swarmed to dine on the corpse of this beautiful dolphin, Rosie and I soaked in the rising sun felt gratitude for the gift of this ephemeral life.