Whale Watching Group Captures Stunning Video of 2,000 Dolphins Leaping Together in Rare Super Pod
A whale-watching tour company in Northern California captured rare footage of a dolphin super pod — featuring about 2,000 dolphins breaching off of the coast of Monterey.
According to the Associated Press, Monterey Bay Whale Watch boat captain and videographer Evan Brodsky was sailing near Monterey Bay, about 100 miles away from San Francisco, on Friday, Feb. 21, when he encountered the super pod — which included the rare northern right whale dolphin.
Brodsky told the outlet that he and a crew were conducting research when they saw about 12 dolphins in a group. They quickly followed the pod, spotting more dolphins along the way.
Video footage captured by Brodsky's drone shows hundreds of dolphins breaking through the water's surface, splashing around, and playing on a bright, sunny California day.
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"[Today], we were out again conducting a survey on the area when we came across a super pod of a mind-blowing 2000+ northern right whale dolphins mixed with pacific white-sided dolphins spread out for miles as far as we could see!!" the whale watching tour group wrote alongside the footage in a Facebook post on Friday.
"While super pods like this are rare (especially of NRWD) winter is still the best time of year to have a chance at encountering big pods of dolphins," the company added.
By the end of the ride, the group had counted more than 2,000 dolphins, including light gray baby calves, several hundred Pacific white-sided dolphins, and northern right whale dolphins.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), northern right whale dolphins commonly live in pods of about 100 to 200 dolphins—although sometimes their super pods can grow to 3,000 animals. The species is the only one in the North Pacific Ocean without a dorsal fin, and the animals can grow as large as 10 feet long and weigh 250 pounds.
"At sea, they are sometimes mistaken for herds of fur seals and sea lions due to their dark, streamlined body," NOAA states.
Northern right whale dolphins also socialize with other species, including Risso's dolphins, which Brodsky told the AP he filmed last month.
"They're all smooth," Brodsky joked, referring to the more common dolphin species. "When they jump, they look like flying eyebrows."
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Colleen Talty, a marine biologist with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, also told the AP that many people come to Monterey from all over the world to try to catch a glimpse of the elusive northern right whale dolphin. This species gathers in the bay's deep underwater canyons to socialize, eat, and ward off predators.
For Talty, the best part of seeing Brodsky's drone footage was the calves swimming alongside their families.
"We don't always see baby dolphins," she told the outlet, "so that's pretty nice."
Brodsky joked that seeing the thousands of dolphins swimming in unison might have even brought a tear to some of his crew members' eyes.
"We were so excited it was hard to hold in our emotions," he recalled. "We had the biggest grins from ear to ear."
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