'Like a stampede of wild horses' Hundreds of dolphins turned out for tourists. Photo / Dolphin Safari, Facebook.com
Around 300 common dolphins were caught on camera in a stunning display.
A party of whale watchers were wow-ed when their boat caught sight of this massive pod of dolphins, off the coast of South California.
Boat skipper David Anderson said it is "without a doubt the most remarkable thing" he's seen.
"Imagine you're driving a long in a truck and there's a herd of charging horses, that's what it's like," the skipper told BBC news reporters.
Know as "porpoising" the marine mammals reduce friction and build a remarkable pace by leaping out of the water. Dolphins can reach speeds of up to 60km an hour.
Speculating that there might be killer whales nearby spooking the superpod, Anderson followed alongside the stampede but could not keep up at full speed.
"Often times these things will happen almost as someone's fired a starter' pistol and they just go."
Scientists aren't sure what triggers a stampede. It could be evading predators or a technique for pack hunting, but they are rarely as dramatic or as large as this one caught on camera on Monday.
Normally travelling in groups of 5-20 dolphins, the marine animals can group up into "superpods" of over 200. The largest recorded was seen near Laguna Beach, not far from this stampede, in May this year.
A private charter boat with the Newport Coastal Adventure found themselves in a pod of over 1000 dolphins.
