Less than an hour our, we came upon 4 dolphins, being joined shortly after by ten or so more, and everybody wanted to play. The group was extremely vocal, making some intense pulsed sounds and blowing bubbles at us, circle swimming and chasing each other and having a grand old time. We saw Swoosh, Split jaw, Underbite, Big C, Chop Fin, White Blotch, #17, #12, and whole bunch more (we still need to pour over that video). We were in the water with these guys on and off for two hours, towing ourselves through the water with them until the group size dwindled and we got tired.
A bit later, the group came back together and we did some more tows, watched some mating behavior from the boat, and headed home after a full trip of dolphins.
Last trip! Was pretty amazing. Spotted them at the exact same time as the day before, another large group – third trip in a row with this size group! The group was spread out a bit over a large area, and we found ourselves sharing the group with three other boats in very close proximity. In and out of the water for an hour with many of the same animals from yesterday, watching a mating group from the boat that was paying no one any attention. We towed more people through the water until the group decided they'd had enough, and we headed in. White Blotch came by to say goodbye on our bow for a good five minutes.
It was a lovely end to a wonderful summer with the dolphins. We're sad to go, but school calls and there's lots to do back home with all this data!
Thanks for reading. Signing off for the summer…
Kelly and Kathy