Mystery Monday revealed!
Mystery Monday revealed! The answer is: Long-beaked Common Dolphins
Thanks to this gorgeous slow-motion footage from Paul Jones, Searcher naturalist, we can see why common dolphins are such a treat to witness while aboard Searcher in Baja.
Common dolphins are strikingly marked and are often found traveling together in large groups or pods, sometimes up in the thousands. They are a joy to encounter as they often leap, splash back on their sides, and, as seen in this video, “bow ride” in the pressure wave made as the boat moves forward.
This footage captures the precision, athleticism, and agility of these dolphins as they quickly swim, surface, feed, and even socialize all while maneuvering in the bow of the boat. We often see very young calves swimming alongside mothers, both keeping up the pace!
Also in this video you can see remoras attached to some of the dolphins. These are suckerfishes that attach themselves via a flat sucking disk on their heads to larger marine animals such as whales, sharks and other fishes.
This is a blue whale surface lunge feeding with one of the tail flukes sticking out of the water as it’s on its side. Blue whales are the most massive animals to ever live on the planet. They are obligate krill eaters, and consume many tons of plankton every day. A calf gains 6 pounds per hour while nursing and the whale in this photo was with her calf when Searcher happened upon a feeding frenzy. In addition to this pair, we saw lots of birds, dolphins, and a Bryde’s whale. It was spectacular. –
