At Play

Posted by liaso (Bay Area, United States) on 2 June 2008 in Animal & Insect.

One of the highlights of the Cruise portion of my Walk/Cruise with Cougar was our dolphin spotting. These dusky dolphins were feeding fairly close to the boat. It seemed as if they were also at play, jumping out of the water often, swimming with each other. I stopped taking pictures after a short while so I could just enjoy watching the dolphins, rather than trying to find them with the telephoto.

It was also very interesting because the gannets (a type of bird) joined in the feeding. They seemed less playful, more frenzied. It was surreal to watch them dive bomb the water to catch the fish the dolphins were bringing to the surface. In fact, they are a bit suicidal. Although they have special lids on their eyes that protect them when they enter the water that quickly, it does not protect them fully. Eventually, over the years, the gannets will go blind diving for the fish.