Much to the delight of those walking on the promenade on Saturday morning, a school of dolphins jumped out of water in the Bay of Bengal near the Gandhi Statue on Beach Road in Puducherry.
Walkers stood captivated and were seen taking in the rare sight as the marine mammals showed up where only boats and fishermen are otherwise seen. A large number of them were seen moving fast towards Veerampattinam.
For warmer water
A senior forest official in Puducherry said that during this period schools of dolphins migrate. Generally, they migrate from the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal. “We have also sighted dolphins during this season in the previous years. They migrate to the warmer waters,” the official. The migration routes of dolphins vary as it mainly depends on factors such as seasonal changes, food supply and water temperature. They are social creatures that prefer the tropical weather and move in pods to hunt together. The coastal dolphins stay near the coastline and are usually smaller in size, officials said.
Dolphins are part of the cetacean species that includes even whales, the official said. They usually vary in size from 4 feet to 30 feet long. There are about 40 species of dolphins.
Even during their brief guest appearance off the Promenade beach, the dolphins, which are regarded as intelligent and playful animals, showed why they were the crowd’s favourites as they zipped this way across the sea.
