Watch: Remarkable 300 dolphin stampede wows whale watchers

'Like a stampede of wild horses' Hundreds of dolphins turned out for tourists. Photo / Dolphin Safari, Facebook.com

Around 300 common dolphins were caught on camera in a stunning display.

A party of whale watchers were wow-ed when their boat caught sight of this massive pod of dolphins, off the coast of South California.

Boat skipper David Anderson said it is "without a doubt the most remarkable thing" he's seen.

"Imagine you're driving a long in a truck and there's a herd of charging horses, that's what it's like," the skipper told BBC news reporters.

A remarkable whale watching experience yesterday with a pod of around 300 common dolphins stampeding off the coast of...

Posted by Capt. Dave's Dana Point Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari on Monday, 10 August 2020

Know as "porpoising" the marine mammals reduce friction and build a remarkable pace by leaping out of the water. Dolphins can reach speeds of up to 60km an hour.

Speculating that there might be killer whales nearby spooking the superpod, Anderson followed alongside the stampede but could not keep up at full speed.

"Often times these things will happen almost as someone's fired a starter' pistol and they just go."

Scientists aren't sure what triggers a stampede. It could be evading predators or a technique for pack hunting, but they are rarely as dramatic or as large as this one caught on camera on Monday.

Normally travelling in groups of 5-20 dolphins, the marine animals can group up into "superpods" of over 200. The largest recorded was seen near Laguna Beach, not far from this stampede, in May this year.

A private charter boat with the Newport Coastal Adventure found themselves in a pod of over 1000 dolphins.

Megapod of Dolphins off Laguna Beach

We saw this Common Dolphin "superpod" chasing fish off Laguna Beach for our 5:30pm Private Charter Whale Watching trip today! Some lucky familes got to experience what it's like to be amongst at least 1,000 Dolphins. If you're a family group and you'd like to join us, we are operating limited capacity trips currently where you get a private Zodiac to yourself. And we've got a discount code "30off" for $30 off our flat rate for private charter when checking out: https://nca.rezdy.com/230347/private-whale-watching-adventure-for-1-to-6-passengers

Posted by Newport Coastal Adventure on Saturday, 16 May 2020