Candidness, I realized, was the truth of the moment. These dolphins were not performing for likes or praise; they were being utterly themselves, and that honesty was contagious. We answered in kind—soft laughter, the occasional breathy expletive of astonishment, hands reaching to touch the rim of the world where spray mingled with skin. A child on board pressed his face to the rail, mouth open in a silence deeper than any cheer.