Today, Sethy and I were at Eastern Beach. We were mostly in town to spend his birthday money. The weather was shit so I decided to leave my camera bag in the car. The idea was sneak down to the beach during a break in the weather, walk the promenade, and then go home.
The day dragged on. We walked around. Got caught in rain. Played on the playground. Got caught in rain. There was at least two gannets flying around.
We were about to leave when I saw about 4 gannets flying low over the water. It seemed like one was diving but I didn’t see the bird come up again. Then I realized. The splash was coming from a dolphin!
I know they sometimes come into the bay but I rarely see them. It was amazing. It was the first dolphin Seth had ever seen.
The gannets were following the dolphin. They were flying really low over the water and just diving. They were diving from about 2 meters above. At one point there was at least 8. At this point, I really really wanted the camera because the odds would have meant that I’d capture at least one of the gannets eating. It would have been a struggle in that weather anyway.
The above video is a youtube clip of various snippets of the iphone footage I took. After youtubing other dolphins in the bay, I’ve noticed that is is common for gannets to follow them. It amazes me how much there is to learn about their behaviour.
Need to find more gannets. They are fast becoming my favourite species.
Want to learn more about the relationship between gannets and dolphins? Check out these videos:
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