A large pod of about 100 bottlenose dolphins was spotted in the Long Island Sound near Wading River Saturday.
The sighting is likely the largest one in local waters since 2009, when more than 200 dolphins were observed traveling in western areas of the Long Island Sound near Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor.
“It was absolutely amazing,” said Alyssa Montellese, a Wading River resident who watched and photographed the dolphins last weekend near her home.
Montellese was boating with her family Saturday afternoon when a passing jet skier informed them of a large group of dolphins swimming nearby.
A few minutes later, the family came upon the extremely rare sight for themselves.
“There were dolphins everywhere,” Montellese said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Many of the dolphins were swimming alongside the family’s boat, jumping and splashing to the delight of Montellese’s family and two children, ages five and six.
“We were all just screaming every time they jumped,” she said. “We were so amazed by what we saw. It was the coolest thing ever.”
Although sightings of single dolphins or small pods are not uncommon in the Long Island Sound, it is very unusual to spot such a large group traveling together, according to Rachel Bosworth, public information officer at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.
“It’s very uncommon to see that many at one time,” Bosworth said this morning. “It’s really exciting that they are here in this great of a number.”
The dolphins are probably attracted to increasing food sources in local waters, she said. “There’s a lot more food in the area now that the dolphins would come here for,” Bosworth said. “We’ve had fishermen reporting that there’s an abundance of all different kinds of marine life.”
She added that warmer water temperatures in the summer months make the Sound friendlier for dolphins as well. “It’s the perfect time of year for them to be more present.”
A group of between 50 to 100 dolphins was spotted in the Sound near Hempstead last week, Bosworth said, but it is difficult to tell if that group was the same pod Montellese observed with her family Saturday.
Aside from the recent sightings of large pods near Hempstead and Wading River, there have been no other sightings this year of large groups of dolphins in the Long Island Sound, she said.
Montellese said that the dolphins were “super fun and very playful,” jumping and splashing. “You could see their fins coming out of the water everywhere,” she said.
The pod appeared to be traveling west, so Montellese’s husband made several trips back to shore, ferrying friends and neighbors from the beach out to the pod so that everyone could see the dolphins for themselves.
“It was just so amazing,” she said. “It was a once in a lifetime experience.”
Bottlenose dolphins can be found throughout the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Typically, they travel in small groups of up to 15 dolphins. Dolphins are intelligent marine mammals that hunt fish using echolocation to locate their prey. They can live as long as 40 to 50 years.
Bottlenose dolphins are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Although they are not classified as endangered in the United States, it is illegal to kill or feed them. Federal guidelines recommend staying at least 50 yards away from dolphins at all times.
“As beautiful as they are and as fun as they might be, it’s important to remember that they’re still wild animals,” Bosworth said.
Any sightings of bottleneck dolphins or other locally rare marine wildlife can be reported to the Riverhead Foundation’s 24/7 hotline at 631-369-9829.
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