The sea is a prominent symbol in The Music of Dolphins. It represents The Freedom to Be True to the Self and the sense of Family and Connection that Mila experiences with her dolphin pod. Mila was lost at sea at an early age and was found by a pod of dolphins soon after; a mother dolphin who had recently lost her calf took Mila into her care. Mila describes the sea as “a big home where all the time is swimming and all the time is singing and all the time is touching in the big wet” (30). It is a place of joy, of adventure, and of protected community among those who love and care for her.

When researchers first find Mila, she has barnacles in her hair and her skin is “streaked with salt” (4). She is truly part of the ocean, adapted to it and happy to exist as one with it. Being removed from it is not a rescue for Mila but a capture—one that does little but cause her to suffer while awaiting her return home. She tries to connect to the sea by playing music that expresses her longing for her past experiences; she also seeks to mimic the songs of whales and dolphins.