Passengers on a catamaran were surprised by a dolphin in Cozumel, last week, when it leapt out of the water and almost landed on top of them.
Crew member Itzel Nuñez and passenger Elaine Bregman both managed to record the amazing moment. They spoke to This is Cozumel in exclusive interviews and gave permission to show their videos here.
The events unfolded as the group were returning from a catamaran trip to El Cielo in the Marine Park in the south of the island.
Itzel said she spotted a group of wild dolphins a few hundred yards off to the side of the boat, and the captain slowed the boat down to a couple of knots, so as not to disturb them and to allow passengers onboard to get a good look.
As she moved to the front of the boat another group of wild dolphins appeared in the water ahead, swimming faster than the boat. "They were jumping and very happy and had lots of energy", Itzel told us.
In 5 years working on boats in Cozumel, Itzel has seen lots of dolphins, but nothing prepared her for what happened next. One of the dolphins exploded out of the water right in front of the boat, jumping higher than Itzel had ever seen before. As the catamaran continued on slowly in the same direction the dolphin landed partly on the prow, before flipping itself back into the water again.
Elaine, originally from California but now living in Cozumel, told us she was worried the dolphin might knock one of the other passengers into the water. "Only after I rewatched the video at home did I realize how close the dolphin came to landing on my cousin. The dolphin’s tail hit her butt, leaving her with a bruise", she said.
Eric A. Ramos, an expert in Mexican dolphins at Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, identified the animal in the videos as a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and told This is Cozumel, "it was bow riding and interacting with the vessel. This is quite common. The leaping associated with it is also quite common. The catamaran hulls are a favorite of dolphins to swim with because they get a boost by swimming alongside".
The crew and passengers were all concerned the dolphin had been hurt in its escapades and circled the boat round slowly to check, but they could only see dolphins still playing merrily and none that looked injured or in distress.
Eric added, "we can't know if the dolphin hurt itself because we would need to actually inspect the animal and its behavior", but "dolphins are pretty tough and have to deal with fights and other injuries".
The video shows the same jump by the dolphin from two different angles. Videos and photos courtesy of Itzel Nuñez and Elaine Bregman.