PBS - The Voyage of the Odyssey - Track the Voyage - ATLANTIC OCEAN
).
Only recently recognized by scientists in 1971, the Fraser's dolphin is typically a tropical, oceanic species identified by a broad dark
stripe running from the eye, almost down the length of the body. The stripe is most prominent in mature males,
appearing somewhat like a bandits mask, but is almost entirely absent in calves and very faint in younger animals.
More and more Frasier's dolphins poured in from every direction. We estimated the group to be over 1,000 animals. As soon as they reached Odyssey, they made
sharp turns and filed in under the bowsprit. It seemed they were all eager to ride the bow wave. The sea surface was like glass and as the dolphins rolled
on their sides to look up at the crew on the bow, we saw every minute detail of their smooth, perfectly contoured bodies. The group contained many large
males and numerous mothers with tiny calves the size of footballs swimming alongside in perfect unison. We increased the speed of Odyssey, which seemed
to encourage the dolphins to breach and porpoise around us with even greater vigor.
An Atlantic spotted dolphin calf (
Stenella frontalis
) leaps out of the water.
Photo -
Chris Johnson
A little farther from the boat we noticed several smaller pods of darker colored animals moving slowly around the edges of the huge group of Fraser's
dolphins. We realized this was, in fact, a mixed group that included several hundred melon-headed whales (
Peponocephala electra
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