Leaning forward

 

 

The distinctive forward-leaning splash (often called a "rooster tail") of a Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli).  I felt lucky to capture one image with the porpoise somewhat visible (the dark body and the triangular dorsal fin).  A small group of porpoises approached the boat during the pelagic trip on 23 May 2021, but they didn't stay around very long.

Dall's Porpoises are very fast swimmers and create an explosive splash upon surfacing.  The splashes can look like white caps from a distance, but note there's a little more going on there:

 

 

 

Often you don't see much more than the splash itself:

 

 

 

 

But sometimes you catch a glimpse of the black bodies with contrasting white side panels:

 

 

 

 

P.S.  For a few more examples of Dall's Porpoises, you can check out the post from 12 September 2017.