We encountered two species of dolphin today with some amazing acrobatics and feeding frenzies observed!
We left the Mission bay jetties and cruised west. We spotted splashes out in front of us and realized it was huge pod of Long-beaked Common dolphins traveling south! It was exciting to see them surround our boat, surf our bow and wake! We spotted lots babies in the mix! They were leaping out of the water right next to our boat! Some breached and porpoised nearby. Accompanying the dolphins was hundreds of birds, mostly California brown pelicans, terns and gulls! We witnessed their impressive dives as they fed on small schooling fish at the surface. While looking back at the photos we noticed a juvenile common dolphin that had a deformity in its tail (see pic). It was so sad to see such an intense twist in its spine at the peduncle. We continued out to the drop-off and followed that north. We spotted some huge splashes on the horizon to the west of us. Scanning with binos revealed Offshore bottlenose dolphins! They were launching out of the water and landing with big splashes! There were about 100 scattered over a half mile that were headed north! Cow/calf pairs were sighted cruising beside us. We turned in toward La Jolla and enjoyed the smooth ride home.
We hope you’ll join us for trip soon!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
