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| Juvenile & Adult Atlantic Spotted Dolphin |
Depth of image - 6'ft.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella plagiodon)
Rare open-ocean encounter. This pod of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins allowed me to swim with them for over 40 minutes. After a while we drifted off the wreck and the pod circled me at the surface. This juvenile and adult stayed near by the entire time.
In the background of the image is a Alpha Adult Dolphin staring very hard as the pair approaches with-in camera-range. Seconds after releasing the shutter, the LARGE dolphin was inches from my mask shaking it's head in all directions. It circled around me 3 times before I knew what was going on, and then hit me on the head with it's tail. Not enough to knock me out, but enough to get my attention that maybe I was too close and should back off some.
