Video from wildlife officials shows dolphins swimming off the coast of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said its fisheries staff was out Tuesday on the Choptank River as part of an annual check on young striped bass and came upon some bottlenose dolphins just south of Cambridge.
Support our journalism. Subscribe today. arrow-right
In a Twitter message, Maryland’s DNR officials titled their video “OFFICE VIEW.” The dolphins can be seen coming up out of the water a few times.
Eric Wilson, a DNR spokesman, said it’s “pretty common at this time of year” to see pods of dolphins — sometimes a dozen, or even up to 100, swimming at the same time in the Chesapeake Bay area. He said the pod of dolphins was probably following a school of fish when they were spotted.
Story continues below advertisement
“Generally, during the summer months is when the bay’s water temperature is much warmer and that brings feeding fish into the bay,” Wilson said. He said other marine animals, including sea turtles, are often seem more in the summer in the bay.
When dolphins get trapped in fishing nets, this crew is their voice
When the temperatures drop in the fall, the dolphins will probably head back out to the ocean and to warmer, deeper waters to the south, experts said.
Advertisement
Wilson said swimmers and boaters should “stay away” from dolphins if they see them in the bay’s waters or the ocean. “They’re a protected species, so it’s best to just let them be,” he said. “Enjoy them from afar.”
He reminded boaters to put their engine in neutral as the dolphins pass so the animals don’t get injured, and said that anglers should “never cast your fishing line where you see dolphins.”
And as with any wildlife, Wilson said, don’t feed dolphins.