Close encounters

[thestook]

A friend of mine was in town so we took him out on the Gulf and Intercoastal for a bit of sight seeing... who knew what we'd end up along side...

I had no idea that Bald Eagles were found around Sarasota but this is the 3rd I've seen. This dolphin has approached the boat twice now, unfortunately I'm thinking people have been feeding him.

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[turbinedoctor]

Nice pics, I have some of dolphin in the Chingoteague channel, but not that close.

Welcome to the site.

[Kajun]

nice pics thanks for sharing!

[charlie_the_tuna]

yeah we got birds up here too but a dolphin encounter is something we dont.

HOW COOL!!!

[TheTinMan]

Great pics, what kind of camera?

Seen Bald Eagles when I lived in FL (Daytona).

I was working at the Auto Mall on I-95. Got to work one morning, parked in the back near a retention pond. There was about a dozen ducks or so in the pond. 2 immature Baldies, full grown but heads not white yet, they get the white head around 4-5 years old. Anyway, the Baldies were swooping down on the ducks tryin to kill and eat em. All at once, all the ducks would dive underwater and the Baldies missed. Watched this about 5 times....then 2 ducks decided to make a break for it, 1 eagle in hot pursuit, 1 stayed put. I've never seen ducks fly so fast, their wings looked like hummingbird wings! They pulled pretty good on the eagle and think they made a clean getaway...cool stuff!

I also saw a 10-12 foot gator on the bank of the same pond once :o

[Sean]

Nice! That dolphin looks like it doesn't have a fear in the world. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing :-/

We had a pod of about 60/70 dolphin out infront of Narragansett bay on Sunday. In a few more weeks when the sea herring move in there should be more of the dolphin as well as BlueFin tuna with in a mile from shore.

[Airslot]

Chincoteague Inlet is loaded with them (dolphin) now. Must a been 100 of them out there the other night.

Airslot

[thestook]

Great pics, what kind of camera?

Thanks, this was my buddies Canon Rebel XT... pretty slick setup. Here I was trimming up after just killing the motor though I don't think the dolphin was in any danger... seemed pretty used to it all.

And I'll tell you what, I'm not usually impressed by birds but that bald eagle made me want to go out and buy American products while singing the national anthem!

http://static.flickr.com/115/278729209_0b7db7d861.jpg

[lumberslinger178]

some of the coolest pic ive seen. ;D

[macojoe]

Great pic's!!!!!!

I wish I was taking pic 15 years ago :'(

I have a friend that lives in a lajke side cottage here in Ma.
Its the Taunton water supply and only residents can fish that body of water!! And it is huge!
Any way there were like 3 Egale nest there and in his cove was one of them.
I was there one day and we were sitting in his living room watching TV, he has sliding doors right off the living room to a small deck that over hangs the water.
While watching we see a bird swoop dow to the water and grad a pearch and then take right off like nothing!!
I had not noticed that it was a Eagle at first, bnut he just sat there and said O thats the Eagle getting dinner.
Guess this was a all the time thing for him, but I was in aww!

As for Dolpine, we see them here all the time, but I have never seen one that close!! Maybe from 75 feet away is the closest!

[Pipe_Dream]

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[Sean]

Nice!
It looks like they actually try to communicate with you

[Pipe_Dream]

Nice!
It looks like they actually try to communicate with you
They do!

"Feed me!"

Really, I do believe that the major reason we see dolphins behave like this all the time around here is because people throw them food, even though that became illegal years ago.

[parishht]

I am curious, why do dolphins not go after baited hooks?

I have been out fishin with live bait and the dolphins will come by,
they don't go after the live bait,
are they taht smart?

[Blue_Runner]

I've heard of them taking baited hooks like when king fishermen livebait on the end of the pier.

I think its rare because after all they are mammals and very intelligent. They probably see the hook and line and avoid getting hooked quite often.

[racerx]

been my experience that nothin bites my hook when dolphin are in the area. some say its a good sign. that dolphin are there cause lots of fish in the area. personaly, i think they are awsome hunters and my mere human efforts cant compete. its like they heard the schools into a trap. i pack up and leave whenever i see them. what about you guys? how do they affect y'all when fishing?

[frayed_knot]

I used to live in Ketchikan, Alaska. Bald Eagles were just a prevalent as sea gulls. It was kinda of sad to see the huge flocks of eagles at the landfill. They are scavengers, and loved picking through the garbage with the ravens and gulls.

When fishing, if you pulled up a bottom fish, the air bladder would poke out of their mouth cuz you would be fishing in about 150+' of water, and if you threw it back they would float on the water. Suddenly, out of nowhere, and eeirily quiet, a bald eagle would swoop down and pluck that floater right out of the water right next to the boat. Freaked me out the first time, but I always looked forward to throwing the small ones back after that.

[reelapeelin]

I am curious, why do dolphins not go after baited hooks?

I have been out fishin with live bait and the dolphins will come by,
they don't go after the live bait,
are they taht smart?


I think their sonar-returns show the hook as something they don't recognize as food (metal)...and yeah, I think they're that smart 8) ...

[Franco]

We have two bald eagle nests in the wetlands behind my house, along with osprey. In the river we have dolphin, bull sharks, rays, outside the inlet we regularly spot sea turtles, sunfish, flying fish, sharks, dolphin and more

[charlie_the_tuna]

dam franco, that really is "just another day in paradise".

[thestook]

Awesome Franco. Being new to the area I'm definitely in awe each day on the water. I also grabbed a great shot of an Osprey with a fresh catch that was still jumping around in his talons.

We've been in the water and had a group of manatees swim by, that so far has been the best experience.

[reelapeelin]

At San Blas a few years back, tryin' to get video of dolphins...good luck!!...got plenty of "just missed" shots...but when we got home and started lookin' at video, here's this Spinner Shark comes completely outta the water spinnin' like a top!!...didn't even know we had 'im ::) ...

[Franco]

yesterday me and my better half (I really mean that)
were driving across the wabasso bridge and saw a pod of dolphin feeding in 3 feet of water on a school of trout! Willy and I came thru that section of the river when he came to visit.This is the second time we have seen that, first time we saw it it looked like an explosion under the water, with 10 or 12 dolphin tearing up some dinner, lasted maybe 10 minutes before they scattered.
PS. We were going to the tackle shop, she was curious as to where I wanted gift certificates to for christmas!

[reelapeelin]

PS. We were going to the tackle shop, she was curious as to where I wanted gift certificates to for christmas!



So ya drove her TO the right place to MAKE SURE 8) ... methinks there's DAWG Award material in the making here!! ;) 8) ...

[reelapeelin]

Willy and I came thru that section of the river when he came to visit.




Still got his little toe-prints on the bottom in the pluff-mud ... ;) ;D ;D ;D ...

[Franco]

ARF ARF !!!
Thats the spot exactly Oz, where he was kidding about havin to get out of the boat!

[willy]

Who was kiddin ;D
Coolest thing I ever saw in the ocean was when I took the kids to the coast of Maine to camp etc. We were up on a bluff about 150 feet from the water below. We looked out and I saw the water in the little bay and it was beautiful blue color. All of a sudden right in the middle, an area about 50-60 feet in diameter started swirling like a giant toilet bowl and the center was sparkling with some kind of what appeared to be baitfish. I mean the water was was really spinning, all of a sudden a whale comes shooting straight up thru the middle and launches in the air like a Trident missile. Mouth wide open. Landed with a huge splash and disappeared into the swirling water. A minute or two later another one did the same. This went on for about fifteen minutes, one whale after another, don't know what kind they were but it was like watching something from another world.
When they were finished the water just stopped swirling and you could see the pod moving off thru the channel area sounding and spouting as they went.
I felt like a very humble fisherman that day.

[reelapeelin]

WOW...that really is impressive...you very fortunate to have seen that 8) ...

[willy]

I was absolutely amazed, never even saw that on a TV show or pics, incredible. My CEO and I sat amazed and my oldest son but the other three little ones looked for a minute and then went OK Dad what next :-/

[reelapeelin]

I've seen it on TV, but can't compare w/ real thing... ;) U2 8) ...