Spirited

As we approached Salmon Creek Beach tonight for a short walk, Eric said casually, "I wonder what happened to those dolphins we saw in the fall?"

The very next moment I looked up and said surprisingly, "There they are!"

 

Last September we felt very lucky to watch a group of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Salmon Creek Beach (see post from 21 September 2014), and now we had a chance to observe them again.  Although I'm not certain yet that these are the same individuals, we might be able to tell after analyzing the pictures.

There were at least three dolphins tonight, and probably four.  For the record, here are two images showing three individuals.  Although Eric and I both felt there might have been four dolphins present, I never photographed four at once.

 

 

At least one of these dolphins was a small calf or juvenile.  Its pale gray coloration was noticeable, even from a distance.  And so was its behavior — surfing the waves, leaping out the backside of the waves, jumping completely out of the water, sometimes re-entering the water upside down, and swimming sideways next to an adult.  Although they were distant, I can't help but show a sampling of these images so that you can get a feel for the spirit and energy of this young dolphin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Has anyone else seen these dolphins around recently?  With the warm water temperatures, I wouldn't be surprised, but it would be valuable to keep track of any local observations.