Squamish's Niall Bell had an awe-inspiring experience on Howe Sound near Porteau Cove on Sunday when he spotted a pod of dolphins.
"It was one of the most wonderful wildlife encounters of my life," Bell told The Squamish Chief.
He was at a safe distance with a long lens.
Bell and his partner moved to Squamish from South Yorkshire in England, in January for the wildlife.
“This is why I packed my bags and came to this amazing part of the world, and I’m super grateful to the community which has made me feel at home,” he said.
Susan MacKay, founder and CEO of the Wild Ocean Whale Society (WOWs) said, from the look of the photo with the three dolphins, the one upside down is pregnant.
"You can see on her belly," she said.
These dolphins have been more common in inside waters since about 1995, MacKay said. Typically, they are out in the open ocean, but are following food sources.
They eat capelin, sardines, and herring, among other small fish. Occasionally, they will share a salmon, she said.
They travel in herds of anywhere from three to 3,000, she said.
"They also tend to gather together when they are herding fish," MacKay said. "So what they will do is, they have one on the outside, or a couple on the outside, making noise, chasing them towards shore, and then they're corralling them as best they can. And then one of them lets out a sound that indicates, OK, we can stop and turn around and feed. It's really quite impressive."
According to the Whales and Dolphins BC website, the Pacific white-sided dolphin is typically up to 2.5 metres (8 feet) long. They can weigh up to 180 kg (397 lbs).
Occasionally, common dolphins and Risso's dolphins will travel with the white-sided dolphins, according to MacKay.
In terms of other fun facts about the marine mammals, they have large brains and can be bullies, MacKay said.
"I've seen them bullying harbour porpoise," she said. "They also harass resident orca—the fish-eating ones. They will just kind of be all over them ... The orca sometimes will turn around and try and get away from them, because they don't tend to play with them. The dolphins are saying, 'Oh, come on. I want to play.'"
They are quite gregarious creatures, and intelligent.
Also, like humans, they have sex for the sake of it, not just for reproduction, she said.
Keep your distance
Bell said he saw people on a boat and jet ski getting too close to the marine animals.
It is the law in Canada to keep at least 100 metres away from whales, dolphins and porpoises (200 metres if they are resting or with a calf).
Not only does getting too close interfere with what they are naturally doing, but vessels can roll over top of them, causing injury.
MacKay said that dolphins will sometimes come towards boats.
"They like to bow ride. They like to wake ride," she said.
When this happens, the best thing is to stop moving.
"If you find yourself in the middle of a pod of them—they may be forging, so they're looking for food and feeding—stop the boat and let them do their thing," she said.
Making sudden movements could injure them.
Locals can also help by reporting any sightings to the Wild Ocean Whale Society.
Though they are not published in real time, to protect the animals, the organization publishes sightings reports on a regular basis.
"We have over 35,000 sightings reports in our archive data that researchers use. So, every sightings report is valuable," MacKay said, adding that folks should not assume someone else has reported a sighting. Different details often come in with each sighting, she noted.
How to know it is a Pacific white-sided dolphin
Their features include:
°Black and grey noticeably curved dorsal fin
°Sleek tapered body with thick tail stock
°Short beak with black lips
°Curved pectoral flippers
°Black tail
See more of Bell’s photos on his Instagram account, @niallbellcom.
