Pelagic Exploration Expedition
The Pelagic Exploration Expedition is one of the most unique and exciting expeditions to experience dolphins in the wild.
The Spinner Dolphins (stenella longirostris) Superpods are probably one of the most exhilarating sights you would see in your life!
The eastern tropical pacific is known as the most productive of all tropical oceans and is documented to have some of the largest tropical Cetacean populations in the world. Offshore Osa might be the most productive part of the region due to three main reasons:
1. Proximity to the continental slope and the Osa ́s uncontaminated fresh water and nutrients.
2. A great diversity of depths and bottom contour including a massive series of undersea cliffs and very deep ocean bottom.
3. A current that hits the cliffs, shoots up and thus creates an upwelling of cooler waters, small bait fish, marine life and other nutrients.
One of the few known superpods of Spinner Dolphins live in a wide area between the 10NM and 25NM WNW-WSW off Caño Island under the constant harassment of the commercial tuna fishing fleet. During the last 10 years we learned many things about them and we know now that they always move around some specific hotspots where they find food. These spots are stretched out with many miles between them so a precise search plan is essential.
Due to the shear size of this area, to reduce the search time and maximise the time with the dolphins we created a plan with the use of a spotter plane and a fast chase boat.
Our Expedition leader and Pelagic Expert will give an informative briefing to guests on dolphin behaviour,the best techniques to approach the super pod and the right time to get in the water with the dolphins. The super pod consist out of several thousand dolphins that branches of into smaller pods of aprox 1000-1500 dolphins during the day.
The experience with the dolphins can last several hours while we follow the pod .
The chances of encountering other pelagic species in the blue water is
Aerial whales of Papagayo Gulf