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.
Photographed while the Owl was on a stump in a swamp. A little different.
A resident at the Center For Birds Of Prey. I am not sure how he was hurt but the center is his home now. One of the lucky ones.
A few shots taken the other day of a Barred Owl.
He was a little wet from standing in shallows where they hunt for frogs and cray fish.
Each image is slightly different since light was shifting with the wind through the overhead bamboo canopy. ISO was very high.
High contrast and structure adds some drama.
Sunday afternoon. Charleston, South Carolina.
