Dolphin Stampede
January 31, 2013 12:17 PM   Subscribe

Earlier this year, a California whale watching boat was pleasantly surprised to encounter a pod of about a thousand common dolphins who decided to check them out. Some fun footage, including from underwater cameras, was used to create this video of the experience. [slyt] [via]
posted by quin (14 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Dolphin Blue?
posted by humboldt32 at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2013


I had this happen to me on a whale watching boat out of Santa Barbara once. Not quite as many dolphins as in this video, but it was still quite spectacular. The same day a blue whale surfaced right alongside the 110' boat, and the whale was the longer of the two. Though I spent half the day motion sick and the other half drugged up on dramamine, I won't forget the day anytime soon.

Whale-watching tours can be dreadfully boring, but catch it on the right day and it's incredible.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2013


I always wonder if this is as much fun for them to do as it is for us to watch, or if this makes them feel like I do at Penn Station during rush hour.
posted by elizardbits at 12:22 PM on January 31, 2013 [2 favorites]


Things I've Learned From Viewing This:

1. Dolphins have 5K Fun Runs, too.

2. Cyriak is now employed at National Geographic.

3. ;KLAJSD;KFJ;AKJDFS;AKJDSF;KJASDF;KJ DOLPHINS! DOLPHINS! DOLPHINS! ohgod
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 12:26 PM on January 31, 2013 [2 favorites]


Having watched dolphins swim and surf in wakes a ton of times, I have no doubt in my mind that they love doing this shit.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:42 PM on January 31, 2013


Dolphinmoot
posted by blue_beetle at 12:45 PM on January 31, 2013 [1 favorite]


Having watched dolphins swim and surf in wakes a ton of times, I have no doubt in my mind that they love doing this shit.

Yeah, it's impossible to watch them from a yacht and not read what they're doing as "play."

The thing that always amazes about watching underwater footage of dolphins is the incredible speeds they get up to with apparently such minimal effort.
posted by yoink at 12:47 PM on January 31, 2013


Dolphinmoot

"Wheeeee, now. Let's be hasty!!!"
posted by yoink at 12:47 PM on January 31, 2013 [3 favorites]


Driving between Ventura and Santa Barbara during a vacation some years ago, I got to see hundreds of dolphins making pretty much the same commute. It was truly an amazing thing to see.

During the same trip, I witnessed a dolphin swim into a wave directly next to a surfer and surf the wave right next to him. I casually mentioned this at an eatery next to the beach, wondering if that was something typical. From the response of the guys at the counter, I got the impression that this was a much-discussed but rarely witnessed behavior.

So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:56 PM on January 31, 2013 [3 favorites]


A porpoise-driven life.
posted by Danf at 2:10 PM on January 31, 2013 [4 favorites]


Back in the 80's I did a lot of fishing in the Hudson Canyon. 100+ miles east of New Jersey. We would leave at 3am and run east for four hours. Almost every weekend during summer recess.
It was not exactly rare to have an escort of 10 to 100 porpoises for as much as half an hour and longer.
BUT.
One morning I am alone in the enclosed fly bridge (42' Ocean Yacht sport fisherman) fully rigged with every electronic device from radar to auto pilot.

My partners are below snoozing and I am having a serious fight with major sleepies.

Just about the transition from the darkest night to a glimmer of light in the east I imagine a school of porpoises.
As I reach full alertness I realize it is not a herd of porpoises. It looks like whales. I run down and wake everyone and we spend about three minutes watching a huge pod of whales all around us. 50?
Hard to determine their exact lengths but they were pretty big. Certainly 20+ feet.
We were never able to ID them.
To this day I am most thankful I was able to get my buds to witness them. Otherwise......
posted by notreally at 2:52 PM on January 31, 2013


I love that the one guy's laugh is so maniacal.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:15 PM on January 31, 2013


I saw something like this once (on the way to Antarctica with Sea Shepherd) and I'll never forget it. I've seen dolphins in other occasions afterwards, but never in such high numbers. A real privilege.
posted by ig at 7:36 PM on January 31, 2013


To quote the dolphin Kibbe in Anne McCaffrey's The Dolphins of Pern: "SQUEEE! SQUEEE! SQUEEEEEE!"
posted by messiahwannabe at 8:37 PM on January 31, 2013


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