Bottlenose Dolphins put on a stellar show, Pacifica CA 9/26/25

While I think you'll want to watch the whole video, if you only have time to watch a little bit, at least watch the first 35 seconds. These dolphins were putting on a real display of living life with joy. It was a joy and a privilege to watch these magnificent creatures.

This was a long day chasing the dolphins. I first spotted them in the morning on the pier after taking some photos of an entangled Humpback Whale. For the rest of the day I was following them around on their adventures off the Pacifica coast. They became extremely playful and energetic toward the end of the day off Esplanade. All of the footage in this video came from there.

It was absolutely thrilling to watch, but frustrating to video. Dolphins are often difficult to photograph and video, but it’s even worse when they decide to do everything they can to stay right in line with the glare of the sun on the water. No matter how I moved, they managed to move right back in line. With time and patience, I was able to periodically get some footage that came out well. I was absolutely giddy thinking about reviewing the video when I got home. Unfortunately that had to get put on the back burner because I was working on getting photos and video to the Marine Mammal Center to help in tracking the entangled Humpback.

This morning I finally got around to reviewing the video. I was even more thrilled than I could have expected. Some of the interactions and antics just absolutely fascinate me. Often I’m so preoccupied taking photos to really see all of what’s going on. Looking back on the video I’m seeing so much more than I realized was happening when I was out there.

It was extremely difficult to whittle down roughly an hour of dolphin video to just a few minutes. I may have to make another video from the remaining footage. I have some really great closeup shots of some of them that I think people might enjoy, and I suspect the Marine Mammal Center would really like to see.