December dolphin stampede off California coast ‘off the charts’
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.”
The pod was filmed by Loriannah Hespe, a retired San Juan Capistrano nurse who has been documenting wildlife for more than a decade and has traveled the world to capture footage.
What causes dolphins to display stampeding behavior is unknown, and the burst of activity appears to happen spontaneously. Common theories suggest the dolphins could be meeting with another pod nearby, racing to catch food, or evading natural predators such as orcas.
Hespe, with Capt. Chuck Gathers was aboard the inflatable heading south from Dana Point, about two miles from shoreline toward San Clemente, looking for humpbacks when the megapod swarmed them.
“All of a sudden, we saw a massive amount of dolphins coming our way,” Hespe said, adding that they were caught in the middle.
“As far as the eye could see, we were surrounded by dolphins at least a mile in every direction,” she said. “I’ve seem a lot of megapods and this was the biggest one I’ve ever seen.”
Gathers managed to turn the vessel around and began driving in the same direction the dolphins were going. They stayed with the dolphins for about an hour.
“It was so exciting; they were leaping alongside,” Hespe said, almost coming to tears. “It was very emotional. It was the most amazing encounter I’ve ever seen. There were young ones, old ones, and babies, and they were all going really fast.”