Most everyone has a friend who tells the story of their trip to the ocean and seeing dolphins frolicking on the water. And it’s easy to find videos of dolphins jumping out of the water in the wake of a boat. But this video is something else.
A group is out wakeboarding on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez when a squad of dolphins decide to tag along creating one of the best days and one of the coolest videos ever.
Professional Windsurfer Wyatt Miller was out with friends in La Ventana, the windsurfing and kiteboarding mecca on the Gulf of California when something magical happened. Filming one of the crew wakeboarding behind their boat, when all of a sudden the water was filled with dolphins.
The dolphins were all across the water as they joined the boat and traveled along, creating an experience not to be forgotten. The dolphins jumped and swam all around the boat and in and around the path of the wakeboarder. Lucky for us, Wyatt had his camera and quickly began filming what would become a worldwide viral video.
Wyatt Miller lives in a growing village in Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. It has a steady wind blowing from November to April, making the perfect conditions for windsurfing and kiteboarding. The area is nicknamed “Hood River South” after the Columbia River windsurfing spot that is active in the Summer.
Wyatt and his crew were out on the water with an outboard motorboat, having a little fun as the wind had died down and then the dolphins came along.
Dolphins are very social animals and considered one of the earth’s most intelligent creatures. They live and play in pods of up to twelve dolphins. When food is in abundance several pods can temporarily join together to form a superpod. It looks like that’s what Wyatt’s crew stumbled upon on this amazing day.
Superpods can join over a thousand dolphins. Dolphins form strong bonds with members of their pod, but membership is flexible. Dolphins have been known to bounce from pod to pod.
Dolphins practice altruism, as they are concerned with helping and aiding other dolphins. When a fellow dolphin is injured or sick, they will stay with them, and help them breathe or bring them to the surface.
Dolphins are not limited to helping just their own species. Dolphins have been found to help whales and even protect humans from sharks. Dolphins will swim circles around humans if they are in danger of a shark attack. They have also been known to charge at sharks to chase them off.
As dolphins roam around the ocean, they will spend some of their travel time jumping out of the water. This is called porpoising. Jumping out of the water can save the dolphin’s energy as there is less friction in the air as compared to the water. While in the air, dolphins use less energy.
As this lady wakeboards over the water, the dolphins are porpoising across the water around her. Some of the highlight moments are when the dolphins porpoise very close to her. The wakeboarder and the folks in the boat shout and express their elation.
This special moment on La Ventana has racked up a huge amount of views. And it’s viral quality is just as the driver of the boat says, “Dude, we’re gonna make a YouTube sensation with this!”
The video has over 22 Million views, and it’s been seen on television worldwide. It goes to show that you never know when a simple boating expedition can turn into a viral phenomenon.
Wait! Did you see that? You might need to watch again if you didn’t catch those dolphins getting major air in the background.
Many YouTubers commented about seeing a dolphin fling itself super high and catching major air at 1:38 and again at 1:51. Make sure to check the horizon for that daredevil dolphin.
Dolphins are known to display lots of playful behavior. Leaping out of the water has many different benefits besides just being playful. They jump out of the ocean in order to gain an understanding of their location, or as social displays and communicating non-verbally, or attempting to dislodge parasites.
Dolphins are known to play with objects, bubbles they blow themselves, or other dolphins and animals. They can carry the object and pass it along to others in the pod, or take it away and throwing it out of the water.
One YouTuber’s comment says it all…
“That’s absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen so many dolphins at once! You’re so lucky you got to see that, let alone ride along with them!”
This video captures Dolphins doing what they love. Being social and enjoying the playful interaction with humans.
What started as a leisurely boat ride, turned into something magnificent. Check out the video and you’ll see why it’s been such a huge hit!
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