11:30am- This was the first departure of the day, with no 9am trip. Captain Taylor started things off about 4 miles from Newport Harbor with a really great pod of 1,000 Short Beaked Common Dolphin! This was quite a sight, with dolphin jumping high out of the water every direction. One of the largest dolphin pods of the year. Capt. Ryan came over for a look and then went down off of Laguna Beach where we got to see pods of about 200 Long Beaked Common Dolphin. The difference between these species is small, but noticeable if you have a keen eye. The Short- Beaked are generally more “hyper”, jumping out of the water and enjoying playing with a fast moving boat. Long-Beaks are little more mellow but tend to stick with the boat and bowride better. So we got the best of both today at 11:30am!
3:00pm- Captain Taylor again found the first group of dolphin for both boats, a pod of about 200 Long Beaked Common Dolphin that were really tightly bunched and very playful. Lots of fun! Both boats watched this pod for a better part of an hour, then headed south. Ryan was the first to find what we don’t hesitate to label a “super pod”- more than a 1 mile spread of 1,500 Short-Beaked Common Dolphins, jumping everywhere! It was incredible an even topped the sighting we had this morning. No whales today, but believe me, the dolphins were enough fun where they weren’t really missed. We had to contend with some bumpy sea conditions today; when the weather gets nicer later in the week we can do a little more exploring for whales farther from shore.