Vanessa James
A killer sunset and some SUPER playful Risso’s dolphins showing off their bellies and those cute suit‑and‑bow‑tie markings! We had dolphins everywhere, but we spent most of our time with our extra‑rare visitor — the usually shy, reserved, nocturnal Risso’s. Tonight they were anything but shy: actively diving, feeding, and launching into huge celebratory leaps. … Read more
We had a beautiful afternoon trip filled with hundreds of Common dolphins! We raced out to the SW and were almost to the 9-mile bank when we started to see an uptick in bird and splash activity! We surveyed the super calm seas in search for our 3 S’s: spouts, splashes and seabirds! We sighted … Read more
This morning was truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips that reminds us why we love being out on the water! We started the day surrounded by an incredible pod of 300+ long-beaked common dolphins and the energy on the water was absolutely contagious as they raced alongside the boat, surfacing, leaping, and weaving through the … Read more
WOAH — Next level dolphins out there today! Something neither Captain Vanessa or I have seen out here! We were hanging with a small nursery pod of short‑beaked common dolphins when we glanced north and spotted some VERY tall dorsal fins. Sure enough — a super active pod of Risso’s dolphins, sitting right between TWO … Read more
This morning had us out playing with short‑beaked common dolphins off La Jolla, right where the canyon meets the drop-off. That zone is ALWAYS buzzing with life thanks to all the shifting depths and upwelling so close to shore. This pod was on it—cruising, weaving, and then suddenly all launching in perfect unison off the … Read more
Rocking and rolling on the sunny seas the Privateer made its way to the Northwest in a 3-4 ft swell, where the crew were using their expertise to determine the difference between white caps and dolphins and found the best pod of ~300 short beaked common dolphins! They swam in dense formations and brought their … Read more
Lots of animals out and about today! The large pod of common dolphins has continued to patrol the drop off about 5-6 miles from shore. They are hunting small fish and squid alongside many birds including phalaropes, cocos booby birds, terns, shearwaters and auklets (in the same family as puffins!). There were even some dolphins … Read more
Acrobatic dolphin ballerinas all night tonight. Hundreds of short‑beaked common dolphins on our afternoon tour, and over a thousand on our sunset run. They were all hanging out past the drop‑off, foraging, playing, and launching into the sky like nobody was watching. Plot twist: we were absolutely STARING. And they did not care one bit … Read more
As the summer is reaching its turning point starting to slide into autumn, the common dolphins are turning out! All the behaviors we have come to love from the short beaked variety like chin slaps, back flips, tail wiggles and LOTS of babies! Between 3 distinct groups, Privateer saw 1000 dolphins in a mere 2.5 … Read more
Sunset tour treated us to absolutely stunning conditions and dolphins everywhere. We had miles of spread‑out short‑beaked common dolphins, plus one concentrated pod that was leaping SKY HIGH! At one point we even got a great look at the remora (little parasitic fish) hanging onto a short‑beak’s belly for dear life. The sunset felt endless … Read more