Tourists get the experience of a lifetime as pod of ONE THOUSAND dolphins ‘stampede’ alongside their boat off California
- The spectacle took place off the coast of Dana Point, California, on March 14
- Footage shared by the Dana Point Whale Watching group shows as the group race alongside one another, coming in and out of the water
- Those on board the boat are said to have watched the dolphins for four hours
- Dolphins normally travel in groups under 200; it is unknown why pods of dolphins stampede but it is thought to be connected to food or a predator threat
- Dolphins move fastest while porpoising since there is less resistance in air
A ‘stampede’ of 1,000 dolphins has been caught on camera in front of a stunned boat of tourists in California.
The spectacle took place off the coast of Dana Point, California, on March 14.
Footage shared by the Dana Point Whale Watching group shows as the group race alongside one another, coming in and out of the water.
Posting the clip online the group wrote: ‘This behavior is known as the Dolphin Stampede, we were the first location to coin the phrase.’
They added: ‘The dolphins take off so fast they turn up the water making it white water, you can hear them swimming through the rushing water.
‘They are so graceful even in the frenzied behavior and we are so amazed to see them right off our coast.’
A stampede of 1,000 dolphins has been caught on camera in front of a stunned boat of tourists in California. The spectacle took place off the coast of Dana Point, California, on March 14
Those on board the boat are said to have watched the dolphins for four hours.
Dolphins normally travel in groups under 200. It is unknown why pods of dolphins stampede but it is thought to be connected to food or a predator threat.
Dolphins move fastest while porpoising out of the water since there is less resistance in air than in water.
The Dana Point Whale Watching group added: ‘Dolphin stampedes happen spontaneously and can occur anytime throughout the year.
‘Southern California has the greatest density of dolphins per square mile of anywhere else on earth. This includes nearly 450,000 common dolphins, the species in this video, as well as several other types of dolphins.
‘Dana Point is one of the best places in the world to see large mega-pods that can number in herds of up to 10,000.’
Footage shared by the Dana Point Whale Watching group shows as the group race alongside one another, coming in and out of the water. Posting the clip online the group wrote: ‘This behavior is known as the Dolphin Stampede, we were the first location to coin the phrase’
Those on board the boat are said to have watched the dolphins for four hours
In August last year some 300 dolphins were caught on camera at the same spot.
Capt. Dave’s Whale Watching Safari said then: ‘It’s thought that the dolphins could be evading a predator such as orcas, racing to catch a food source, or meeting up with another pod of dolphins.’
Dolphin sightings off the Orange County coastline are not uncommon.
A dolphin pod caught stampeding in waters near Laguna Beach made news around the world in 2019.
Dolphins normally travel in groups under 200. It is unknown why pods of dolphins stampede but it is thought to be connected to food or a predator threat