On Friday afternoon I decided to head out to Cedar Key to watch the sunset and see what birds were around. At the first place I stopped the dock was under repair, so I headed into the main part of town instead. Often times there are some wading birds and seagulls at the beach, but there was only one egret there and no gulls at all. There was, however, a pod of Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) fishing and frolicking in the waters near the boat ramp. I wandered down to the ramp and found a nice floating dock where I could get some photos of the goings on.

Atlantic bottlenosed or common bottlenosed dolphins are marine mammals that can be found in temperate or tropical waters all over the world. They are well known for their intelligence and for their frequently altruistic behavior. They’ve become one of the best known marine mammals thanks in part to their large range, but also thanks to their being prominently featured in many television shows and movies. Dolphins are predators that eat mainly fish, but will also consume squid, cuttlefish, shrimp, and other crustaceans. They may fish singly or in groups of 2-3, but sometimes they form small groups or pods that fish co-operatively by herding fish into a small circle where it is easier to catch them. That’s what these dolphins were doing during most of the time I was watching them. You could tell when they started by watching the water as it began to stir. Once the fish were contained the water would become very turbulent as they grabbed fish splashing flippers and tail flukes. When they weren’t fishing there did also seem to be some playful moments going on as well. I left when it was getting close to sunset time. The light was getting bad for action and water photos but the dolphins were still at it. I also wanted to go watch the sunset, so I went to a better location for that. Even though I went out to see birds, I can’t say that I was at all disappointed. There is something very relaxing about watching dolphins playing and fishing and it was just what I needed!