Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Our Australia research team had a great encounter with Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Hervey Bay recently.
You can see these dolphins doing a behavior called "porpoising", which is when dolphins swim at fast speeds and jump out of the water in a forward direction. This efficient way to travel quickly allows for maximum oxygen intake without slowing down often seen when animals are hunting prey or avoiding predators. We are confident in this case that it wasn't due to predators, but it also didn't look like typical foraging behavior either! The pod contained calves and juveniles so there might have been a social aspect to the behavior. The pod “porpoised” steadily for about an hour, so our team had the opportunity to grab some great footage!
Research activities conducted under research permits and following animal ethics approval. The drone operator holds a remote pilot (RePL) license certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
pacificwhale.org
Our Australia research team had a great encounter with Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Hervey Bay recently.
You can see these dolphins doing a behavior called "porpoising", which is when dolphins swim at fast speeds and jump out of the water in a forward direction. This efficient way to travel quickly allows for maximum oxygen intake without slowing down often seen when animals are hunting prey or avoiding predators. We are confident in this case that it wasn't due to predators, but it also didn't look like typical foraging behavior either! The pod contained calves and juveniles so there might have been a social aspect to the behavior. The pod “porpoised” steadily for about an hour, so our team had the opportunity to grab some great footage!
Research activities conducted under research permits and following animal ethics approval. The drone operator holds a remote pilot (RePL) license certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
pacificwhale.org
