A miles-long ‘super pod’ of 1,500 dolphins has been spotted ‘leaping and gliding’ across Carmel Bay off the central coast of California, in a rare show that has left marine biologists “amazed” and members of the Monterey Bay Whale Watch team ‘astonished’ at the scale of the formation.

Drone footage captured by Captain Evan Brodsky of the Monterey Bay Whale Watch team, shows a cluster of Risso’s dolphins ‘ stretching for miles’, presenting an astonishing sight for those aboard the whale watching tour.

Speaking with the Associated Press, Brodsky described the 1,500 strong ‘super pod’ as “on the horizon as far as I could see”.  

It’s a rare sighting. Risso’s dolphins – a species which, with its stocky body and bulbous head – can weigh as much as 1,100 pounds and reach up to 13 feet long – typically travel in groups of only 10 to 30. The sight of a super-pod of around 1,500 of the dolphin therefore came as quite the shock, even to Colleen Talty, a marine biologist who was on the trip to track the annual migration of Gray whales, who described the occurrence as “pretty amazing”.

According to Talty, the formation of this ‘super-pod’ and its large mix of adult and juvenile Risso’s dolphins was most likely the result of several pods coming together and swimming south. She reiterated that while this may not be the first time such a large group has been spotted, it’s far from a common occurrence.

Somewhere between 11,000 and 16,000 Risso’s dolphins live along California and the Pacific Northwest Coast. In recent decades, Risso’s dolphins have been spotted more regularly in Monterey Bay. There is some evidence to suggest that Risso’s dolphins are particularly abundant in the Monterey region during winter and come closer to shore during periods of higher surface water temperature.

The Risso’s dolphin is currently listed as a species of ‘Least Concern’ according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, but like all marine mammals, they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the United States.

The team with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch tour didn’t initially grasp the size of the rare super-pod that appeared last week, thinking it only to be a couple of hundred dolphins to begin with. 

“Once we put the drone up, I was just blown away… I kept saying, ‘Look at my screen. Look at my screen. Look how many there are,’” said Brodsky. “It just blows my mind every time. It never gets old.”

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