Bottlenose Dolphin (100mm image)

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Tursiops truncatus, from the same series as earlier. No eye contact here, but the structure of these animals is such that they have an aesthetic appeal from almost any angle, even if it's just the tail :). As can be seen, the image at 100mm full frame is too tight to get the entire animal in. Even more difficult is the task of anticipating where the dolphin will leap out next and accordingly framing the shot at this focal length. Made a couple of shots for keeps with the 100mm and then switched to the 18-55mm.

Canon 500D, Canon 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/4000
Av 4.5
ISO 800
Full frame image

Thanks, C&C welcome. Will share more from this series shortly.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice to see this species who are being mercilessly killed by the Japanese. There appears to be scratch marks. I am wondering if it is due to propellor or cut from something else. How many of them were there in the pod? Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely capture. The sparkling water looks nice. Good details and sharpness. Good that you could get lot of images to document. Thanks for sharing.

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Sabyasachi,
The scratches are made by other dolphins in the pod. Adult males are usually heavily scarred, presumably by ritual conflicts. The scars help us identify the dolphins (hence dolphin records are required to have clear images of the scarring), much like the facial stripes of a tiger. In fact scarring as a method of identification may be used even by the dolphins themselves.
This pod apparently had 6 individuals. Will share some "group photos" soon. :-)

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Abhishek,
I am told that the dolphins get entangled in the net as well as get hit by the propellors of boats and get scarred. That was the reason for asking. These are highly intelligent animals. Beautiful too. Happy to see them in our waters.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Sabyasachi,
You are right, they do get injured by propellers and nets. However, the scars from those are different in appearance (of course it is difficult to tell for sure). And I'm not sure how many victims would manage to escape them...

[Roopak Gangadharan]

nice image and some intresting info Abhishek. didn't know about the scaring in dolphins and its utility in identification. Most of the native fisherfolks consider dolphins sacred (representatives of sea mother) and dont harm them. Some consider it a bad omen if one gets caught in the nets. Ive heard they some times make a noise which is very similar to that of a human baby crying, is that true??

TFS
Roopak

[Chitrita Chatterjee]

What a beautiful image... feels almost like one is swimming beside the dolphin.. I too have heard they are the only sea creatures that have a 'voice' or 'sound'- close to the human sounds.
thanks for sharing.

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Roopak: Not sure about the cries. Dolphins make a series of clicks (clicktrains) when travelling or hunting, and communicate by squeaks and whistles.