Dolphins Regular Visitors in Mission Beach San Diego [video]

When it comes to great things to do along San Diego beaches there is an endlist list including surfing, skateboarding, walking, volleyball, sunbathing and another add on would be “Dolphin Watching”.

Dolphins are regular visitors along San Diego beaches and normally the best time to see them is in the mornings.

As a person who cruises the beaches in the mornings I normally see dolphins 4-5 days a week and every once in a while they are pretty active jumping out of the water and having fun.

The dolphins swim along the coast in pods or groups of anywhere from 2-3 up to as many as 15-20 and they come in as close as 75 feet on days when the surf is big.

Dolphins love to ride waves and also cruise along and show surfers that they are better in the water.

an Diego has two types of dolphins including:

Risso’s Dolphins (Grampus griseus) are commonly called Grampus because of their species name, Grampus griseus. They reach lengths of at least 15 feet with newborns reported to measure 5 feet. Risso’s are thought to eat squid and occasionally fish. Risso’s dolphins have several distinguishing characteristics, which make them fairly easy to identify. They have a large curved dorsal fin that is far back and is generally darker than the rest of the body. Adults appear light gray to nearly white in coloration mostly due to the scarring patterns from the dolphins raking their teeth across each other. Their snout has no pronounced beak and there is a unique v-shaped indentation on the forehead.

Pacific White-Sided Dolphins head and body length is 5-10 feet, pectoral fin length is about a foot, dorsal fin height is up to 1 foot, and the width of the tail flukes is 1-1.5 feet. Most species have a gray or black back, a paler belly, and various bands and stripes on the sides; there are conspicuous yellowish brown and grayish streaks on the sides. The dorsal and pectoral fins are pointed. The beak is poorly defined. These dolphins are known to leap clear of the water and is the only dolphin of the eastern Pacific known to turn complete somersaults under natural conditions.

So the next time you are cruising along San Diego beaches keep your eyes open for these locals of the beaches and Pacific Ocean.