Humpback Dolphin Leap

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

A juvenile Indian humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) leaping | Karwar, Karnataka

While this species is generally shy for a dolphin and tends to avoid contact with humans and boats, they do sometimes perform full leaps, especially when young. Unlike the more 'refined' leaps performed the spinner, bottlenose and other dolphins, humpbacks tend to leap out at a steep angle (sometimes even vertically) and crash down on their sides or back with a loud "clap" sound on the water. Besides possibly being a form of play, the splash could also serve to draw the attention of other group members. They sometimes also appear to leap when disturbed.

This juvenile performed eight complete leaps in succession while travelling with its mother and two to three other adults. They were very close to our stationary survey boat (easily within reach for a full-frame no-crop image), but I chose to make wider images and crop them later, because this juvenile kept sprinting ahead of its group making it a bit hard to keep track of.

Nikon D3100, Nikkor 70-300mm ED VR
SS 1/1000
Av 8
ISO 400
Small crop

Thanks, C&C welcome. As always, observers are welcome to join me, do get in touch if interested.

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Nice picture. The high shutter freezing the trailing droplets gives the sense of action. Do you have any snaps without the shoreline - would possibly give it the deep sea effect ? Loved the eye contact and the porpoising curve.

thanks for sharing

Rajan

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks,I intentionally included the shoreline for two reasons - (1) to show the near shore habitat of this species (it is not found more than a few km from shore) and (2) because I was using the shoreline landmarks to track its movements.

That is not the eye, it is the blowhole (should have made that clear in the description); the dolphin's back is towards me. I do have pictures with eye contact, will share them later.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Splendid.

I am so pleased to hear that you will be in the seas for learning and writing on a subject which is so dear to your heart. I am thrilled that the Fellowship has been awarded to you for the studies. It takes away worries about continuity.

I may take this opportunity to narrate a story.

Smt. Padmaja Nehru, Ex.-Governor, W.B. (daughter of Smt. Sarojini Naidu, Freedom fighter and Poet) was an ardent reader of Krishnan's 'Country Notebook' column in the Sunday Statesman. Krishnan was facing difficulty in finding funds for his visits to the jungles. Zafar Futehally met Padmaja, the then Secretary of Nehru Institute and enquired whether Krishnan could be awarded a suitable fellowship to write a book on the status of our Wildlife. Padmaja did not hesitate for a moment, Zafar said, to award Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship to Krishnan and the famous book 'India's Wildlife in 1959-70' was published by BNHS in 1975.

Wish you all the success in your project. Thanks for sharing.
SaktiWild

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Great to see this image. well timed and the action is well presented here. Agree for aesthetics the shore line with the mobile towers is an eyesore. cropping just above the tree line might help to keep the narrative intact. overall this is a lovely piece of action captured with an informative write up on the behavior of this species. keep up the good work Abhishek.

TFS
Roopak

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks Roopakji and Saktiji.