Outdoors

Locals Chris, Janet and Jason Eberly sure like man's best friend in the sea, and they've banked on others enjoying a low-impact, high-fascination adventure. The family purchased the Southern Rose 10 years ago in Delaware, and Capt. Chris piloted her back solo to the Gulf Coast.

The 48-year-old Michigan native covered 2,600 miles in 17 days, using 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel. The fuel cost 99 cents a gallon back then, so the Eberlys got when the getting was good.

Thanks in part to Hurricane Ivan, the family business has evolved from dinner cruises to dolphin cruises. Chris estimates they entertain 25,000 passengers per year, and they almost always see the main attraction.

"We saw manatees last year," Chris said. "Four manatees came up right beside the boat, and we watched them for about 30 minutes.

"… That's the last time we didn't see dolphins."

The Eberlys offer morning, afternoon and sunset cruises, and the sunset cruise sounded like a winner for us. We shoved off at 6 p.m. and headed out for a nearly 8-mile, two-hour round trip covering Bayou St. John, Perdido Bay and Pirates Cove.

We saw warm-up acts, like the osprey nest atop a channel-marker pole.

"There was only one baby in there when we just went by there," said Chris, who steers and narrates on the trips. "The other ones have flown, but they keep coming back."

Looking over the boat side, we saw what looked like a jellyfish screen saver. Chris announced that the jellies are thicker for this time of year than he's seen in 10 years.

There might have been other wildlife sightings, but I was too busy fighting a losing battle. I eventually let my son climb the tight spiral staircase … with me in tow and hands on.

I did notice the warm Gulf breeze, which mixed with Jimmy Buffet tunes on the PA for a relaxing brew.

Chris took us out to an area where shrimpers are known to cast their nets. Where one finds shrimpers, one finds dolphins.

Chris keeps his head on a swivel, peering through binoculars from his upper-deck pilot room. He kept us moving from port side to starboard side, whichever side served up dolphins.

And there they were, following a shrimp boat. They surfaced for air, often in pairs, and they're not shy. Some came almost close enough for us to reach down and touch them.

Chris said 25-50 dolphins live in the Southern Rose's cruise area. He'll see them jump 6 feet out of the water, and he's seen mothers give birth in early spring.

Typically, the mother and another adult female are present. Labor takes one to two hours.

Like humans, dolphins typically have one offspring, and the newborn is about a foot long. The mother will nose the baby to the surface until it breathes. After that, the baby needs nudging to swim.

"Mothers just basically toss them in the air and get them swimming and push them around," Chris said. "That's always fun to watch, the little baby dolphins. … They just swim so awkwardly. People really get a kick out of that."

The time comes for Chris to steer us back home, but one dolphin wants to play. It races along the Southern Rose's port side for a time, then fades off.

We head back toward the setting sun, skirting the Florida/Alabama bridge just prior to reaching the home dock.

We saw about 10 dolphins on the trip, and my son has made several friends. Hayden introduced himself to Linda, Cathy, another Cathy, Mary (several times), Phyllis and two boys about 9-ish. I couldn't hear the boys' names over Chris' narration.

Linda, Cathy and Cathy got high-fives.

As outdoor adventures go, it was low-impact, high-enjoyment.