Wildlife lovers in Mexico had a “far from ordinary” day when they spotted an enormous pod of Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) on their last day of expedition.
A whale watching group had seen a small pod of cetaceans off the coast of Cabo San Lucas but weren’t exactly sure what species they were.
“They were shy and diving for long periods, keeping their distance,” says Niklas Manger, operations manager at Apex Ocean Divers. After an hour of watching and waiting, they managed to catch them on camera using their drone.
“To our surprise, the animals turned out to be Risso’s dolphins, socialising in a tightly knit group,” Manger says. These dolphins can dive hundreds of metres deep looking for food and it’s rare for them to be spotted close to shore. “It was a true gift of the ocean.”
These cetaceans are "a true ghost-like dolphin” with scars all over their grey bodies, says Manger on Instagram. “Their pale, scratched up skin, telling hundreds of deep-sea stories, from playful sparring to battles with squid: their favourite prey.
"After watching the pod for a while, the group realised that these dolphins weren’t the only ones in the water with them. “The ocean surface came alive with movement,” he says. “Spouts and dorsal fins dotted the horizon in every direction, with small groups surfacing and diving in unison.”
There were far too many to count but Manger thinks there were more than one thousand Risso’s dolphins in the water – it’s incredibly rare to see so many together. "The sheer scale of the pod, moving together in perfect harmony, made it a truly magical day on the water.”
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The IUCN’s Red List categorises Risso’s dolphins as a species of Least Concern but Manger stresses that they still need protection. "Risso’s dolphins face growing pressures from bycatch, plastic pollution, and disturbance from vessels,” he says. "Witnessing such a vast, peaceful gathering was a reminder of both their resilience and the fragility of their ocean home.”
Image and video credit: Credit: Niklas Manger (@nik_oceanlife), Apex Ocean Divers
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