WHALE-come to the dolphin party! We saw so many different species of dolphins today! It is a lesser-known fact that dolphins are actually whales! Dolphins are part of the toothed whale category of whales under the order Cetacea. All toothed whales have one blowhole and small conical teeth inside of their mouths! On today’s morning trip, we encountered 2 different species of dolphins and 2 different ecotypes. While we were still within the jetties, we encountered a small pod of ~5 inshore bottlenose dolphins. Then, we encountered several scattered pods of long-beaked common dolphins, about ~200 individual dolphins found throughout the trip! We encountered a pod of ~20 offshore bottlenose dolphins located about ~11 miles offshore in about ~1200 ft of water. These offshore bottlenose dolphins were porpoising in and out of the water and making massive splashes!
For our afternoon trip, we sighted 3 Mola-molas, a pod of ~10 long-beaked common dolphins and a massive pod of ~30 offshore bottlenose dolphins! The offshore bottlenose dolphins were located about ~10 miles offshore! They were displaying playful behavior and being very active on the surface of the water. We even got to see multiple cow/calf pairs of offshore bottlenose dolphins! Ocean conditions were absolutely perfect today, really calm, blue water and great visibility all day. We’re looking forward to more ocean fun! Please join us soon.
Naturalist,
Melissa
