We had a super fun time on the water today! We caught up with Long-beaked Common dolphins on both trips as well as Offshore bottlenose dolphin on the afternoon trip!
On the afternoon trip, we spotted our first dolphin encounter about 7-miles from shore! It was nice dense group of ~40 Offshore bottlenose dolphin! They were constantly surfacing and exhaling little spouts every time they came up to the top. It seemed like they were preparing for a dive. We noticed a couple tiny calves that were hanging out together. They enjoyed the big wake the Inspiration put off and surfed beside us! We spotted the bottlenose that is missing its dorsal fin. We continued out and spotted a huge pod of ~400 Long-beaked Common dolphin! They were seen near a huge feeding frenzy of birds! The Commons slowly traveled toward the birds and the frenzy began! The dolphins herded a couple bait balls to the surface. We enjoyed their presence as they came up to check us out! We spotted the same pod on our way back in.
On the sunset trip, we ventured out to the drop-off and then hooked it to the north. We noticed a lot of bird activity to the north outside of La Jolla. Scanning with the binos, we noticed there were some big splashes! We caught up with a fun pod of ~200 Long-beaked Common dolphins! The water in that area was so beautiful and glassy! We got the best looks at them as they zoomed around the under the water! We watched as they swam upside down and moved in and out of the wake! This pod really loved to ride the bow! We watched as they launched out of the water to beeline it our bow! Overall, it was a wonderful trip!
Hope to sea ya on the next trip!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
