{"id":759838,"date":"2026-06-25T17:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759838\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T17:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:57:21","slug":"massive-mile-wide-mega-pod-of-dolphins-spotted-off-calif-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759838\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive, mile-wide mega pod of dolphins spotted off Calif. coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past week, a giant pod of dolphins has been spotted a few miles off the Central Coast<\/a>, giving those lucky enough to be out on whale watching excursions a glimpse at thousands of the frolicking mammals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Monday, Avila Beach Whale Watching<\/a> posted a video of one of the massive pods churning the waters right off the California coast. \u201cThe 7:30 is a beautiful time to be on the water,\u201d it said. \u201cToday on both trips we found this pod of several hundred Pacific Common Dolphins. I have never seen so many babies (calves) in a pod at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

That post was created by Mark Kocina, a boat captain and owner of the company. Kocina told SFGATE on Tuesday morning that in the 15 years since he started the company, he\u2019s never seen anything close to the dolphin activity that he\u2019s seen over the past couple of weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

While it is not unusual to see dolphin activity surge here several times a summer, the sheer number of dolphins he\u2019s seeing right now, he said, is \u201cexceptional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILE:<\/p>\n

FILE: A super-pod of dolphins has been hanging out near the Monterey Bay Aquarium.<\/p>\n

Getty Images\/Cavan Images RF<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also about what the dolphins do once they spot the boat: \u201cThey come over to engage with us and play with us, and they\u2019re grabbing fish as they go,\u201d he told SFGATE.<\/p>\n

Kocina, a naturalist who has worked on boats for the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the past, said he believes these dolphins are part of a \u201cmega-pod\u201d of up to 10,000 animals usually based down near Oxnard and the Channel Islands<\/a>. He thinks there\u2019s a chance that a large swath of that pod, perhaps more than 1,000 dolphins, has temporarily broken off and headed a little farther north.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

He said that a pod of 200-300 dolphins spotted a few times a year is not unusual, but the recent sightings far exceed those numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor about a week, we\u2019ve had, at times, several thousand dolphins,\u201d he estimated. \u201cA mile-wide swath of the dolphins \u2014 even farther as far as you can see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another surprise about the giant pod, he said, is the prolific number of babies he\u2019s spotted over the past several days.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few days ago, it was incredible. I have not seen that in 15 years on the water,\u201d Kocina said, referring to the outsized number of the youngest members of the pod. \u201c[Dolphins] mate year round, so there are always some little ones, and they\u2019re this unique thing to point out, jumping out right next to mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Recently, however, the numbers of young ones have climbed up into the dozens. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve seen them all together like that, almost like a nursery \u2014 just incredible,\u201d\u00a0Kocina continued.<\/p>\n

The passengers out on these recent trips have \u201cbeen astounded,\u201d Kocina said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FILE:<\/p>\n

FILE: The whale watching ship \u201cThe Sea Wolf II\u201d brings visitors to watch a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins on Monterey Bay.<\/p>\n

SOPA Images\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, and sometimes I play the theme to \u2018Jurassic Park\u2019 when we\u2019re seeing something amazing,\u201d he continued, describing often tear-filled reactions. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely some type of interspecies connection. People feel very drawn to them. We can tell they\u2019re wanting to play with the boat. By law, we can\u2019t approach them, but they turn and race over to play with us. They want to interact, and I think people feel that. It\u2019s pretty joyous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

As far as how unusual this type of dolphin activity is, this pod activity seems notable. In January 2025, a group of a couple hundred dolphins was spotted offshore near Point Lobos<\/a>. Evan Brodsky, a captain with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, and Colleen Talty, a marine biologist, went to take a closer look and found a much bigger cohort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got there and realized there were a lot more than a few hundred,\u201d Brodsky told SFGATE.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brodsky was able to get drone footage of the pod exploring the waters near Carmel: \u201cThere were thousands of dolphins, about 1,500 or more, just little white dots everywhere on my screen,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That notable pod was made up of several smaller groups who likely \u201ccame together for a big social gathering,\u201d Talty said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Brodsky said he hoped the footage of that large sighting would help raise awareness of the dolphins\u2019 continued plight. \u201cIt\u2019s important to me, because unfortunately, these dolphins are still hunted in some parts of the world, and still collected for the really abusive captive industry,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s really special to see them wild and free and promote seeing them wild and free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Stay informed, and entertained.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Word is spreading fast about this early-summer phenomenon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always full,\u201d Kocina said of his boat. \u201cWe only take six at a time, so it\u2019s never crowded, but you have to book ahead with us. …We\u2019re considering expanding. Right now, everyone\u2019s calling wanting to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

SFGATE national parks reporter Sam Mauhay-Moore contributed to this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past week, a giant pod of dolphins has been spotted a few miles off the Central…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,355752,362991,338],"class_list":["post-759838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-sfgcentralca","tag-sfgtravel","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}