How High Can a Dolphin Jump?

[leong]

Last week while trolling for bluefish in Rockport about 1/4 mile out from Halibut Point I noticed some disturbed water ... bubbles and a circle where the surface looked different than the surrounding water. After I paddled closer to the area a large dolphin suddenly jumped about 10 feet high and landed about two boat-lengths from me. I didn't see it jump again.

Anyone else see any large dolphins on the MA coast? I don't know if the bubbles were from the dolphin; perhaps a whale was also involved.

[bob budd]

I have seen footage of dolphin herds using all sorts of means to cluster their bait fish prior to feeding. I've also seen footage of them generating a wave to deposit their bait on shore, where they shimmy up on their right side (always the right side, it seems) to feed on the flopping fish. Since they are not baleen feeders they don't generally break the surface when feeding on a school. However, they do apparently use water exit/entry to signal other members of the herd.