Monday, July 13, 2015

Through the fog

There was dense fog and light drizzle on 9 July 2015, but visibility was good enough for spotting a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) swimming by Bodega Head:


I caught five individuals in one picture (above), but I'm guessing there were at least 6, and perhaps more, in the group.

Here's a close-up of two with distinctive dorsal fins:


Perhaps folks with the Golden Gate Cetacean Research group will be able to identify these individuals.

ADDENDUM (26 July 2015): Thanks to Bill Keener (with GGCR), the two individuals in the lower picture have been identified:

"The first dolphin [on the left] is "Miss" and she is an well-known older female in fact her records go all the way back to 1982 when she was first observed in San Diego, and she has also been spotted in Santa Barbara, Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay. So she could be nearly 50 years old!  The second dolphin [on the right], "Willow" is a male that has been seen in Monterey Bay, and we have seen him down along the San Mateo coast."

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