Bottlenose Dolphins Surfing at the Kraans
By Jake Keeton

1. News

In amongst all the whale activity we still cannot ignore our iconic Bottlenose Dolphins who have been stealing the show on our recent cruises. Large pods of up to 400 individuals have been keeping us company at St Croix Island whilst we view the African Penguin colony, surprising us with spontaneous aerobatic displays that put any oceanarium show to shame. One can never get tired of seeing Bottlenose Dolphins, they are so inquisitive in the way they approach our boat and their behavior is so intricate and varied, time flies when you are with them and it's hard to leave when we reach our time limit that our permit allows us to spend with each sighting.

One of our favorite places to see this species is at the Kraans at Alexandria which lies just inshore of bird island. We normally visit the Kraans on our way back to port during our full day tour. This area is a hot spot for dolphins and large pods are often found surfing in the shore break. These images were captured at the Kraans during our last trip to Bird Island where we released some rehabilitated African penguins. The morning light giving these shots a different feel with the Kraans still being in the shade. The only explanation as to why these dolphins surf and launch themselves out the waves like this is that they are simply having the time of their lives.