Double Breach of Bottlenose Dolphins caught on camera!
By Jake Keeton

Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth is the Bottlenose Dolphin Capital of the world based on pod size and frequency of sightings. During the last few weeks our special bay has been living up to its reputation with some amazing sightings of not only massive pods of Bottlenose but also some fascinating behavior. Upon arriving at St Croix island on one of our recent cruises we spotted a small pod of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose dolphins on the Western side of the island (known to us as Lovers Lane as we often see a lot of mating in this particular area). This particular pod was right up against the side of the island only surfacing momentarily before remaining out of sight for a few minutes at a time making it difficult for us to get a good look at them. Based on the pods behavior we decided to leave them to their business and start making our way around the island. As we reached the Eastern side of St Croix we were pleasantly surprised by a pod of roughly 150 Bottlenose milling up and down the side of the island. A number of individuals seemed to be more active then the rest racing around the outskirts of the main pod and investigating our boat. It was these individuals that continued to follow us as the rounded the corner to the Northern side of the island and treated us to some spectacular displays of aerial acrobats as they raced past us. It is thought that Cetacean species breach out of the water to have a look around, rid irritants from their skin or to communicate. On this day I think they were simply just having a lot of fun in one of their favorite places.