.png)
The video, which shows dolphins leaping into the air, has already generated over seven million views.
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego whale watching company reports that conditions off the San Diego coast are so good, they're seeing an influx of sharks and dolphins. Gone Whale Watching has been posting videos of their recent encounters, which have generated millions of views. One in particular shows dolphins leaping out of the water right next to their boat.
"You know, when these things are going higher than the wheelhouse. It's just, it's spectacular," said Erica Sackrison.
Sackrison was the photographer aboard a Gone Whale Watching tour last week when a pod of bottlenose dolphins caught her eye, as well as everyone else's on board.
"You could just see them jumping like, 20 feet in the air, and everybody on the boat just started pointing and I'm like, what is everybody looking at? Almost feels like they were doing Olympic-style jumps, like they were just all trying to be like Simone Biles and just touch the sky and come down. It was awesome," said Sackrison.
Sackrison's videos are often posted on Gone Whale Watching's Instagram page. In just one week, the dolphin pod one has already generated over seven million views.
On the day it was taken, she says the boat encountered huge pods every couple of miles right off the coast of Mission Bay.
Gone Whale Watching founder Domenic Biagini said there are a couple reasons for that. For starters, there's an abundance of food.
"Anchovies are really, really popular food source, especially for the common dolphins. But we've also been seeing bottlenose dolphins in bigger numbers, and the bottlenose dolphins are the ones that you see in those spectacular videos, leaping into the air. And often times when we see bottlenose dolphins here in numbers like that, it's because there's a lot of squid in San Diego waters. So most likely, we have an influx of squid right now," said Biagini.
In addition to dolphins, Biagini says he's been seeing a lot of sharks too. He credits the sunny skies and smoother water, which make visibility much better.
Biagini captured video of a great white just a few days ago and said it's only the second time he's seen one far away from the shoreline.
"I see them all the time in coastal waters, but it's very rare to actually spot a great white offshore," said Biagini.
Because of the prime conditions and increase in sightings, Biagini has added so-called 'Great White Shark Trips' to his tour schedule.
He warns if other boaters plan to do the same, depending on where you are, use extra caution by going slowly and lifting your engines up if possible.
"When you're in our very, very shallow coastal waters here, it's really crucial to keep your speed down, because you don't know what might be just beneath the surface," said Biagini.
Biagini says doing so will not only increase your chances of seeing something spectacular, but also keep whatever it is safe from harm.
Watch Related: SeaWorld gives kids from Rady Children's chance to swim with dolphins (Sep 18, 2023)
English (US) ·