Thousands of Dolphins Seen Swimming Off San Diego Coast

Photograph courtesy of Antonio Ramirez

A day after a meteor explodes with incredible force over Russia, a highly rare and unusual sight was witnessed off the San Diego coast when a cruise ship encountered a massive pod of swimming dolphins.

Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a “super mega-pod” of common dolphins Thursday around noon while he was conducting his daily tour off the California coast. Dutra says the pod of aquatic mammals had to extend for more than 7 miles long and at least 5 miles wide. He estimates that there were at least 100,000 dolphins swimming in unison.

Captain Dutra says the boat followed the pod of dolphins for more than an hour, as the tourists and crew members were in complete and utter fascination at the spell-binding spectacle. Dutra had never witnessed a similar event in all of his years on the sea, calling the incident “honestly truly beyond belief". 

Dutra, who has boated for several decades, said he felt highly fortunate to enjoy such a rare phenomenon.

“You had to be there to experience it,” he said.  “It was truly spectacular.”

Note: Could this be yet more reactive behaviors being exhibited by animals all around the world due to extreme geological and climatic changes taking place on our planet?  Dolphins are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures and would detect problems long before a human would...