While out the other day we captured 6 or 7 different strandings. Some were closer or better angles than others but each was a great opportunity.
In future articles I will group images of individual strandings for a little more detail.
Nothing short of explosive. I could see the water start to be worked, almost a whirlpool effect directly in front of me.
The charge was still unexpectedly swift. Look at the vast waves created by the animal. This was a full size adult so perhaps 12 feet (3.6 m) in length.
It was a good day of footage for the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network video projects by Ramage Productions. I’m still not sure how many stills I came away with.
Time to add something other than birds, even pink ones.
This is a pod of Dolphins pushing fish to the shore. A group around the South Carolina Lowcountry is one of the few that have learned to herd and ‘strand’ fish on the shore.
This particular hunt included 6 adults. A young calf was swimming off shore in water a little deeper.
Pretty dramatic.
This stranding was a large one. I counted 5 Dolphin in the charge, an adult and young calf a little behind in the water. There was not a sound until a huge crashing wave hit shore.
There was a substantial number of fish pushed to shore.
The Dolphins came in shoulder to shoulder, almost in a straight line. I never noticed that before. It was an impressive well rehearsed charge.
In the above it looks like a wall of charging Dolphin.
As they rolled back into the water Dolphin were still grabbing the flying fish.
The strand from start to finish was 9 seconds. That makes me feel a little better when I’m out of focus or miss one.
There a few things as spectacular as Dolphins stranding. If you are not looking you may miss the water seem to rise up. But when they hit the shore, enormous splashing waves immediately get your attention.
Sometimes it’s a single animal, with a few small fish. But here, it’s a full Dolphin pod and a large school they pushed to shore.
Did I mention they are almost the size of a Honda sedan?
I could not have asked for any more drama in a photograph than this. A pod of Dolphin were herding schools of fish at the mouth of a river. This is a favorite hunting spot. This is one of a few groups in the world that have learned to herd, and push, fish to shore. If the bank is steep enough, they go right up with them.
Here a large adult forced the school to shore, and has caught one, a second is jumping to escape. Adults grow to about 13 feet (4 m) and weight between 600 – 1100 pounds. They swim at 17 mph (27 K).
Best to use common sense around them.
There are only a few places in the world where Dolphin have learned to ‘strand feed’. This is an an inherited feeding technique used by bottlenose dolphins near and around coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina. The method is to herd fish, then charge and push them to shore.
A 13 foot (4 m ) Dolphin does not naturally throw itself onto land. Where I photograph they will do just that, and catch the fish, before turning and sliding back into deeper water. Awesome ! Do not get in their way !
The photograph above is a female Dolphin, the smaller dorsal fin belongs to her calf. She is teaching it to strand feed. This is how the technique is passed through the generations in Dolphin pods (groups).
IMPORTANT : These Dolphin need protection…from people ! They are trying to survive, and we are their biggest enemy. There are currently rules to protect them, if followed. These are huge animals that don’t like a cell phone in their face, or a person standing in the shallows trying to pet them, or a boat alongside their young, or …
All of these things happen each time we photograph them. No matter how far off the beaten path, people are around sooner or later.
My friend, David Ramage Productions, with the Marine Mammal Network, is currently working on educational videos to help raise awareness. I have been honored to provide a few still photographs for this project.
We also need each others help to carry our gear over a gazillion miles of sand during this project too. But that’s another story.
I promise an attempt to keep my rants to a minimum while I publish some of the work.
