captdaveswhalewatchingsafari

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Crystal clear water and beautiful weather this weekend. It has been unusually warm and for this time of year but we’re not complaining!

We sighted several Gray Whales not too far out of the harbor and found several pods of playful Common Dolphin on all trips Saturday and Sunday. You can clearly see these Common Dolphin several feet underwater- and they saw clearly us!

Video by Naturalist Tracie Sugo

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Mother Gray Whale with a brand new baby! Sighted on Captain Dave's Dolphin Safari off the coast of Dana Point, California. Winter and Spring are the best seasons to find Gray Whales- lots of baby ones too!

Photos by drone pilot Domenic Biagini

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We love clear water conditions.

They are perfect for viewing dolphins out of the underwater viewing pods aboard Manute’a- and for the dolphins to look at you!

Photo by Naturalist Craig DeWitt | www.dolphinsafari.com 

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Happy first day of November!

It is finally starting to cool down here Southern California and soon Gray Whales will start visiting Dana Point. In the mean time, we will be looking for Humpback, Fin and Minke Whales, dolphins and whatever else the ocean will surprise us with!

Photo by drone pilot Domenic Biagini

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Some video from our incredible Bigg’s killer whale encounter on October 6, 2017!

Footage by Domenic Biagini

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ORCAS!!!!

We had an rare and breath-taking encounter with a group of transient killer whales yesterday! This pod included members of the CA51 and CA216 pods, which were sighted the day before in San Diego. 

The CA51′s are known as the “friendlies” and they certainly lived up to that nickname! These whales made several close approaches, giving passengers the thrill of a lifetime. 

Photos by Domenic Biagini

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Quite a rare treat yesterday- Risso's Dolphins!

Captain Tom and crew sighted a pod of about 20 Risso's on the first trip of the day outside of the Dana Point harbor. These squid specialists have not been seen as often locally in recent years, it is always a thrill to see different marine species.Yesterday's sightings also included 5 Minke Whales, 1 Humpback Whale (Blackie) and 800 Common Dolphin- quite a grand slam of wildlife!

Photo by Naturalist Mark Tyson

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The first few weeks of September has brought us a nice medley of wildlife!

We’ve spotted Minke Whales, Mola Mola, White Sharks, a variety of seabirds, megapods of Common Dolphin and even a few Blue and Fin Whales. On Tuesday, we even spotted an Oyster Catcher with an oyster in its beak!

Lots of amazing encounters with all of the above species, thanks to Naturalist Craig DeWitt for capturing these!

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Big is beautiful, especially when you’re a whale!

We encountered this enormous Blue Whale (estimated to be around 90′) two days in a row off the coast of Dana Point, California. Blue Whales are the largest animals on the planet and can grow to be over 100′. Blues we have spotted in the area in the past ranged closer to the 70′ range. Seeing a Blue Whale is incredible but seeing a large one really takes your breath away!

Photo by Naturalist Mark Tyson

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Dolphins galore!

Spectacular encounter with an estimated 2,000 Common Dolphin aboard Fast Cat this morning.

Although they are the most "common" marine mammal off our coast, that doesn't mean they're not amazing! With their beautiful hourglass pattern, curious nature and sheer number they never cease to thrill us and our passengers.

Photo by Naturalist Craig DeWitt 

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Mugged by a minke whale!

This whale made several close passes (so close at times that it wouldn’t fit into frame!) over a period of 20 minutes, checking out passengers on the boat. Sometimes whales are just as curious as whale watchers!

Photos by Naturalist Craig DeWitt

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Common dolphin mini stampede!

How many cow-calf pairs can you see?

Photo by Naturalist Craig DeWitt

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Offshore bottlenose dolphins are definitely a crew and passenger favorite!

This population of tursiops truncatus is full of powerful and energetic individuals. They are capable of propelling their entire bodies out of the water, into breaches several feet high or even head over tail flips! Its always thrilling to see them doing this on their own accord in the wild!

Photos by Naturalist Craig DeWitt

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Sometimes during our search for whales and dolphins, we stumble upon some surprises. This was the case on our 11:00 AM trip Saturday when we found a shark swimming near the surface! The water depth was about 1500 feet.

This looks like a Great White Shark, but the pointy snout also indicates a Mako Shark. These two species are similar in appearance and can be difficult to tell apart without some tell tale signs.

Are there any shark experts out there that can share their prowess on species identification?

Stills from drone footage by Domenic Biagini

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Sunday, a friendly little Humpback Whale made several close passes by our catamaran, Manute’a! This young whale was quite curious and gave passengers quite a thrill!

Photos by drone pilot Domenic Biagini 

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Ocean conditions have been superb the past several days- calm, clear and full of life!

Encounters with both long and short beaked common dolphin have been particularly spectacular. Nursery pods (groups of moms and babies) are ever present and their curiosity of people on the boat is as well.

Photos by Naturalist Craig DeWitt

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Marvelous encounter with a fin whale yesterday!

Drone pilot Domenic Biagini captured this aerial shot of the whale in the afternoon sunshine.