Too Cool: Massive 'Dolphin Stampede' Races Off California Coast

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I’m going to step away from politics for a moment, from Joe Biden’s endless vacationing, from the corrupt media, and from grisly crime stories. This story doesn’t have any heroes or villains, no victims or perps—just dolphins, lots and lots of dolphins.

As many as 5,000 of them in fact, and they were frolicking in a “dolphin stampede” off the coast of Dana Point, California, in December.

It was a tremendous sight:

An exhilarating “dolphin stampede” was captured on video off the coast of Dana Point with around 5,000 dolphins swimming through the water on top of each other, according to touring company Capt. Dave’s Whale Watching. 🦈 pic.twitter.com/MIoF4V1PDC

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 26, 2024

Dana Point is well-known for dolphin-watching, and although stampedes are not an everyday occurrence, there have been other instances as well.

Some estimated 5,000 long-beaked common dolphins recently raced through the churning waves off Dana Point, captured not only in the memories of a handful of folks on a rigid inflatable known as the AllsWell, but also footage since shared online.

“Dana Point has made the dolphin stampede famous,” said Gisele Anderson, who operates Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, including the AllsWell and multiple other charter vessels. “We see them somewhat regularly, but some are more amazing than others. This is off the charts the best footage of 2024.”

Anderson and Donna Kalez, who operates Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, are behind a 2019 trademark confirming that the coastal waters off the Dana Point Headlands make the small seaside community the “Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World.” With the trademark in place, no other location in the world can legally make that claim.

“There is such joy when you see these animals; you can’t help but laugh out loud,” Anderson said. “It’s joy on the water and rivals anything we’ve had all year.”

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Here’s another undated stampede a user posted in November:

Dolphin stampedes are also sometimes referred to as “super pods” or “megapods”. They can gather up to thousands of dolphins. This one was filmed off the coast of San Diego.

[📹 taylor.parent]pic.twitter.com/ykgC1VisCv

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 17, 2024

Researchers don’t know exactly why they do it. According to Capt. Dave’s Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, there might be several explanations:

Scientists are not exactly sure what causes dolphins to stampede. It’s thought dolphins could be racing to catch up with a tasty treat of fish, or maybe they’re evading a natural predator like killer whales, or perhaps they got word of another pod of dolphins nearby. Did someone say party?

We do know that porpoising is the fastest mode of travel for dolphins because there is less resistance in the air than in water. And we know that dolphins are not fleeing the boat; they love to hang out, bow ride and interact with whale watchers. Dolphin stampedes can happen anytime and without warning off the coast of Dana Point.

I’ve been to Dana Point and gone on a watching tour, and we did in fact see quite a few dolphins—just not thousands of them all at once. Now that I would like to see.

We’ll leave you with one more video: