A thousand silvery spears

With a little more of a week of delay, it's time to speak a little about last Friday's encounter on the waves. While sailing on the periphery of the Kisite-Mpunguti MPA, we spotted a humpback whale on the distance. For our population studies, we need to photo identify our spotted animal, and hence we chased the whale for obtaining photos of its tale. Was it aware of this? We ignore it, but the whale delighted us with the show of its huge tale clapping steadily against the water.

Amazing? Yes, of course. But not as much as what was about to follow. This whale conduced us, without meaning it, towards a new encounter with marine mammals. Suddenly, we found our boat encircled by a pod of about a thousand long-snouted spinner dolphins. For more than an hour, we simply stared at the spectacle of nature around us. The dolphins surfing in the board of the boat, the synchronization of dozens of dolphins jumping out of the water at the same time, the games among them and the absolutely amazing spins that give the name to this particular species. We took around a thousand photos of this enormous pod, and even our captain, Faridi, was stoned in amazement, as it was the first time he saw this kind of dolphin.

Maybe you know already know what a humpback whale is, but maybe this particular species of dolphin is new to you. Long-snouted dolphins (Stenella longirostris) are a small species of dolphin, length 1.3-2.1 meters. Their coloration varies greatly among different geographical areas, being common a 3-toned pattern. They have a long and slender beak and a erect dorsal fin that helps in their identification. They live in pods from 5 to 1000 individuals, generally in open waters. However, their most characteristic feature, and the one they owe their name to, is their habit to perform high spinning leaps. More recently, they have also been known for having been slaughtered by the tuna purse-seiner fishery, particularly in the eastern tropical pacific.