Socialising | Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa sp.) socialising. Photographed at Mormugao Harbour, Goa in February 2013.

Socialising is a commonly exhibited behaviour in marine mammals. It involves individuals getting close to each other, rubbing against each other, rolling over etc. and is sometimes accompanied by fin slaps and breaches. Also often interpreted as "play", they are thought to do this mainly to bond with other members of their pod.

Canon 500D, Canon 100 mm Macro USM
SS 1/1600
Av 6.3
ISO 400
Large crop

Thanks, C&C welcome.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Rare sighting. It seems there are 2 dolphins playing or bonding. Were there more around the boat? How long was the sighting? Thanks for sharing.

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Mrudul- If I recall correctly there were 4 dolphins in this group. I watched the group for more than an hour. They were initially feeding, following with a bit of socialising. This is from my archives and I had somehow forgotten to post it... I should go back and see if there are any more good images.
In the right kind of habitat, this is not really a rare sight.

[Samrat Sarkar]

lovely sighting..lovely image

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great to see this. Were you on a boat? Our last dolphin sighting was in sundarban in jan and it was a tough scene to capture, especially for me shooting video. Water pollution and noise pollution are the two major problems for dolphins. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Sabyasachi- I was on the deck of a ship docked at the port. Cannot emphasise enough the usefulness of a raised platform. Even though it compromises the angle of the shot, it becomes much easier to anticipate action.
Can't wait to see the Irrawaddy footage.