Weekly Report ~ December 19-24, 2022

Mega Pod of Common Dolphin Seen for Days!
Patches ~ the local So Cal cetacean celebrity, a leucistic offshore bottlenose dolphin, visited us mid-week with his pod of 15-20 others heading south off San Clemente about 5 miles out. Early one morning, a pod of about 20 Risso’s dolphins cruised south off the Dana Point Headlands in a “chorus line” formation, diving to feed. Later in the week, we spotted an awesome pod of at least 40-50 very active Risso’s dolphins, including calves. This appeared to be a mixed pod with a few bottlenoses and even a long-beaked common dolphin all traveling together. There were several breaches and tail slaps!




