{"id":21232,"date":"2025-10-24T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T11:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/21232\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T11:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T11:35:08","slug":"dramatic-footage-of-5000-dolphins-in-california-stampede-stuns-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/21232\/","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic Footage of 5,000 Dolphins in California Stampede Stuns Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dramatic video capturing thousands of dolphins charging across the waters of California has gone viral on TikTok, offering a rare glimpse of nature in motion en masse.<\/p>\n

The video, captured on October 16 by professional wildlife photographer Domenic Biagini (@dolphindronedom), shows a \u201cdolphin stampede\u201d\u2014a synchronized, high-speed movement of thousands of dolphins racing through the water. <\/p>\n

The video has amassed a whopping 3.2 million views since it was posted online on October 19.<\/p>\n

A caption shared with the clip, which was filmed near the San Diego-Mexican border, says: \u201c5,000 dolphins in a stampede: one of the most awe-inspiring spectacles on earth!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, we experienced one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in all of nature,\u201d Biagini says in the video. <\/p>\n

As the camera captures a massive school of dolphins tearing across the ocean\u2019s surface, he says: \u201cWhat\u2019s that sound? It\u2019s not a boat\u2013it\u2019s a stampede.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video later switches to an aerial view, showing a megapod of dolphins<\/a>, all moving in synchrony across the water.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Biagini, 33, owns and operates Gone Whale Watching, a whale watching company in San Diego. His work credits have included National Geographic\u2019s Ocean with David Attenborough, NBC\u2019s The Americas narrated by Tom Hanks, and the upcoming Blue Planet III on BBC.<\/p>\n

Biagini told Newsweek that this particular encounter stood out, even though he is a seasoned marine photographer.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see a group of that size take off in every direction at the same time is genuinely breathtaking,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe just happened to be positioned in a way where one section of that megapod was heading right towards us, and I think you can almost hear the gleeful anticipation in my voice during the video.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith no engine noise, you could hear the incredible rumble of the pod tearing across the surface,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s not common to be sitting still on the ocean, being engulfed by dolphins charging in a mad dash.\u201d<\/p>\n

While dolphin stampedes are not unheard of, the sheer scale of this event was extraordinary. \u201cA normal-sized pod of common dolphins is somewhere between 100 to 500,\u201d Biagini explained. \u201cThis was a megapod somewhere between 2,000 to 7,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

These mass movements, often referred to as \u201cstampedes,\u201d can happen for several reasons. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, dolphins usually stampede for one of two reasons\u2014they are racing towards an active feeding area to hunt, or they themselves are being hunted,\u201d Biagini said. \u201cThere are also times they do it for no apparent reason\u2026perhaps it\u2019s like \u2018practice.\u2019 In this instance, it\u2019s because orcas were in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolphins are social animals that gather in groups ranging from five to several thousand, and some species are known to follow and leap alongside ships..<\/a><\/p>\n

A January 2023 article from travel publisher Matador Network noted that dolphin stampedes \u201ctypically happen relatively close to shore due to the presence of food sources like fish\u201d\u2014and it often looks like they\u2019re \u201cracing each other, occasionally leaping out of the water in a maneuver known as \u2018porpoising\u2019 that allows them to gain incredible momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though scientists have yet to pinpoint a single explanation for the phenomenon, theories include coordinated hunting and the need for safety in numbers, according to the Matador Network.<\/p>\n

For Biagini, who is on the water nearly every day, encounters like these are part of the job\u2014but that doesn\u2019t make them any less extraordinary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a professional wildlife photographer, I definitely have experienced this encounter more than the average person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on the water nearly every day, I probably see some version of a dolphin stampede once or twice a month. Most of those, however, do not feature quite so many dolphins for such a prolonged period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viewers on TikTok were blown away by the dramatic spectacle captured in the viral clip.<\/p>\n

Dee said, \u201cAmazing!! I\u2019d probably cry if I seen this in person!!\u201d. Rosario Perez said, \u201cWhat an incredible moment you witnessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

ATL Powersports King wrote, \u201cSuch incredible footage never seen that many dolphins,\u201d and user1444328681088 said, \u201cI got goosebumps! Can’t imagine actually seeing this!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Milla \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfb recalled: \u201cI was lucky to witness this, a couple of years ago in the Canary Islands. It’s surreal seeing so many at once. 10 min later we also met a huge whale. That was a day to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a tip on a science story that\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0should be covering? Do you have a question about dolphin stampedes? Let us know via\u00a0science@newsweek.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dramatic video capturing thousands of dolphins charging across the waters of California has gone viral on TikTok,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12455,7,9,8,1538,17284,74,3808,14463],"class_list":["post-21232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-biology","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-dolphins","tag-marine-biology","tag-san-diego","tag-tiktok","tag-viral-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}