Saturday Oceanside Pier Swim Training Choppy Day

The waves were small and lacking power Saturday afternoon, but these pictures seem to belie that fact.  There was a body surfing contest earlier in the day but conditions weren't good.  I swam from south to the north and had a nice swim.  The water had a 1-2 foot chop to it, but it was warm and no strong currents.  I bought a watch and wore it to time myself.  I came up with 35 minutes for the swim.  I get in just south of Seagaze Drive (between the Pier and Tyson St) and get out near Surfrider Way.  I don't know how far that is but maybe about a mile.
Before I got in I was studying the water and I saw a big dolphin heading in toward the beach, but it stayed visible for about 1.5 to 2 seconds and what I saw was a fin on a big fish heading toward me.  Remember, I was standing on the sand.  The dolphin looked like a big shark because it was not doing the usual curved up and down movement of the typical dolphin parallel to the sand.  It really gave me the creeps.  I kept watching and then saw a few more glimpses of what were smaller dolphins clearly. 
So, I swam out there with a creepy feeling and then I hit a big chunk of kelp-like a big tree branch-which almost gave me a heart attack.  Then I swallowed a gulp of water and a side cramp started-and it stayed with me the entire swim. 
I didn't relax until I was headed in, tired, and had put the imaginary shark sighting out of my mind.  The cramp stayed with me for another half hour or so.