Common Dolphins at Cape Recife
By Lloyd Edwards

1. News

One of the most beautiful, elegant, smart, fast and strong cetaceans that we have in Algoa Bay is for sure the Long-beaked Common Dolphin.

These animals are impressively nice to observe; they are so intelligent, they interact a lot with each other, with whales and also with boats. When we spot them, we are sure it will be fun and exciting. They are so photogenic as can be seen in the attached images.

Common dolphins are one of the most abundant dolphin species. They live specifically in warmer and tropical waters. They belong to the Order of Toothed Whales or “Odontoceti”. They are a bit smaller than their cousins, the Bottlenose Dolphin.

The body is around 1.5-2 m long and can weigh up to 110kg, although the average is more like 75kg. They are easy to identify, thanks to the evident yellowish hourglass pattern on their flanks. Their swimming is elegant, extremely fast and strong at the same time; reaching up to 35km/h which they can maintain for long distances. They often slipstream boats or big whales, lessening effort and saving energy.

Sexual maturity for females is reached at 6-7 years, while the male at 5-12 years. Mating takes place in summer, and the gestation period is 11 months. Weaning is about 14-19 months, a period in which the young learn to hunt and behave observing the adults. The sardine run is utilized for this purpose.

Unlike our bottlenose dolphins, it is very rare to see them so close to the shore, like on this cruise. They live “off shore” hunting pelagic fish, such as sardines, anchovies, saury and mackerel. We see them in Algoa Bay all year round, but during the Sardine run (April-June), their numbers increase dramatically. They follow the sardines, their favorite food, and they are the protagonists of the bait ball. When hunting, they push the fish, forcing them to swim in a circle and up to the surface. When the fish are all together forming a bait ball, they start to eat. Thereafter the whales, sharks, seals, Cape gannets and other birds start to join the buffet!

Besides being very intelligent mammals, they are also very gregarious. The size of the groups can change depending on habitat and how much food is available. It’s quite common here in Algoa Bay to find them in very large pods, normally between 1 000 and 3 000 individuals. While filming with us, the BBC observed a pod of about 10 000 individuals near Bird Island. On a few occasions we have sighted a single common dolphin with other species such as bottlenose and humpback dolphins. They are very active on the surface and are often seen breaching out of the water moving at very high speeds. It is a fascinating and exciting experience.

You can see from these pics how beautiful and elegant they are. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see them yet, book a Bird Island cruise with us . . . you won't regret it!

Taken with a Nikon Z9 mirrowless, ISO 1100, f/16, 1/1600th second and a 70 to 200mm 2.8 Nikon mirrowless lens at 70mm zoom. This was part of a school of over 1000 dolphins.

These four Long-beaked common dolphins come up for a breath in front of delighted learners from Theodore Herzl on Raggy Charters vessel "My China".

The dolphins have rounded Cape Recife and head on towards the Wild Side. It is amazing how they keep up the speed for hours and hours! The Nelson Mandela

University building stands out in the background. On the left of the image is the old Second World War Fort and Commanders Quarters to it's left.