Dolphins Everywhere

    Today we took advantage of a Groupon deal and went out on a Whale/Dolphin watching cruise around the point at Cape May. Now, this time of year is just a month or so too early for the Whale migration but sometimes they can be spotted. It is, however, prime dolphin spotting season. We have seen them just off shore at Cape May State Park all of the times that we have been there. So we boarded our boat and headed out to see what we could see. 

    Heading out from the harbor we entered into the Delaware Bay via the Cape May canal. There was a long stretch of sandy beach on either side of the entrance to the Bay. 

    Just down a ways was another WW II relic. Here lay a sunken cargo carrier experiment by the Navy. It was a boat made of concrete! Yes, you read it right. It was an attempt to make cargo carriers out of the material, but for many obvious reasons, it didn’t work out so well. Folks say that with the current rate of decay, it won’t be visible for too many more years. 

    Our course took us by the Cape May lighthouse (where the State Park and beach are). You can see other views of this area by reading previous blogs. 

    Frequently we would spot small groups of dolphins. Singles, pairs, or triplets on several spottings. 

    Then we ventured out to deeper water and ran into something I had never seen before. Our guides referred to it as a “herd” of dolphins. A pod is usually associated with a group of dolphins, but that usually denotes 3-5 family members swimming together. A herd is a large group of youngsters and young adolescents along with several males. The herd we found had to number close to 100!! Everywhere you looked there were dolphins swimming. Groups of two, three, even five or more all breaking the surface at the same time. Some were spy-hopping. This is where they come up, head first and check out the humans watching them!

    While not advertised as a part of the trip, we did see several Ospreys who have made quite a few nests in and around Cape May. 

    And lastly we saw what it would be like if we ever had the desire to buy a boat and sail the open waters. Bearing in mind that I don’t have nearly enough cash laying around for the really fancy cruisers, ours would be the one in the middle...