Bow wakes, prop wash, and yes, the good ol’ Mother Ocean-given stuff, dolphins make it abundantly clear who nature’s premier surfing mammals are.
“Our two most abundant dolphins, common and bottlenose, often bow-ride, but we see the latter species doing it more frequently since it spends more time inshore,” Sea Watch Foundation Founder Dr. Peter Evans tells the BBC’s Wildlife Magazine.
Dr. Evans, who established the British charity in 1991, has studied marine mammals for well over 40 years and written more than 200 scientific papers and at least a dozen books. He spearheaded a wide citizen science network, amassing data and intel which he oversees and employs to advise governments and international groups on conservation issues around the world. In short, the good doctor—and Honorary Professor at Bangor University’s School of Ocean Science in Wales—has spent a lot of time watching and analyzing dolphins.
He has also asked himself the question “why do dolphins surf?” as long as he’s studied them. His answer (on their behalf) is, for all of his research papers, books, lectures, and work at large, as simplistic as any humanoid surfer’s answer might be: “It’s an energy-efficient way to travel because the flow of water assists the animals”—yes, there’s the scientist’s preface—”yet it’s mainly a form of play.”
Related: Watch: Killer Whales Punt Dolphins 20ft High During NorCal Hunt (Video)
“Adult males,” Dr. Evans says, “may push others away quite aggressively. Several females might stay on a bow wave happily enough, but if a couple of males turn up they will barge in and take over.” Sounds familiar vis-a-vis the lineup, no? You can take the mammal out of the water and give it legs, but…
Male dolphins, Dr. Evans says, are as easily identified by their war-torn bodies as their appendages: “The scars, nicks in their fins, and tooth-rake marks bear witness to past fights with rivals.” Still, there are times and places for party waves in the dolphin order. “I recently watched about 30 near Anglesey: We were in a catamaran, which is perfect since its wide, square bow enables half-a-dozen dolphins to be at the front at once.”
Be it a ferry, a sloop, the capacious dual bows of a catamaran, or a lonesome A-frame with nary a shred of fiberglass, epoxy, nor polystyrene foam in sight, when things get crowded with nature’s fairest wave gliders, “dolphins jostle to ride the wave,” Dr. Evans adds. And that, for the marine biologist, says it all. With neither food nor destination in mind, we’re all looking to delight in that dulcet dance in the pocket: dolphins, humans, one and all.
Related: Surfer Shares Perfect Wave with a Dolphin in Once-in-a-Lifetime Moment (Video)
Original Post from this site