click to purchase this photographDolphins are a semi-common sight in the coastal waters of west-central Florida, yet spotting them, even for long-time residents like myself, never ceases to delight. They usually attract a bit of a crowd as well. If you see someone standing on a beach or a pier, or in this case a seawall and pointing, chances are they are pointing at a dolphin.
I have noticed that dolphins hunt along the seawall of Vinoy Park. This is a behavior I never witnessed in the first 14 years I lived in Florida. Since returning after a 9 year absence, I have witnessed this hunting behavior twice. The dolphin rockets along parallel to the seawall in pursuit of fish with 50% less direction to go. The water has always been very murky along the seawalls so I have not been able to see the catch of the fish in detail, never mind photograph that moment.
However, this time I was able to predict the dolphin's surfacing patterns and capture an image where you can see the droplets in the water from when it took a breath from its blowhole.
WHERE THE DOLPHIN WAS SIGHTED
View Vinoy Park dolphin spotting location in a larger map