Anyone who has ever been to the ocean knows how vast and impressive it can be, especially when you are viewing it from a boat floating out in open water. With nothing but waves visible in all directions, it is both exhilarating and scary at the same time. Part of that is the fear of the unknown.
A whole unexplored world awaits beneath the surface and you never really know what mysteries abound.
In the past, if you wanted to get a closer look, you would need to actually get out of the boat, put on some scuba gear, and dive on in. However, one man found an interesting new way to get some perspective that reveals more than you would ever expect.
While taking his small inflatable boat out for a spin near Dana Point, California, Captain Dave Anderson decided to launch his drone up in the air to have a look around.
The footage he captured is absolutely incredible.
As soon as the drone goes up in the air, it immediately becomes apparent that the boat is completely surrounded by dolphins.
Not just a few dozen either. The footage reveals that there are literally thousands of them swimming along, jumping out of the water, and splashing around. Captain Dave calls the giant mega-pod a “Dolphin Stampede”.
Further along in the video, Captain Dave shows us some other amazing footage he has captured — “three gray whales migrating together down the coast off San Clemente, California”.
You would never expect how clearly you are able to see the shapes of the humongous mammals from the air, but the clip proves that you don’t always have to dive into the water to see what’s going on.
Although, as Captain Dave explains in the video description, flying a drone out in the open ocean hasn’t been without its challenges.
One time he crashed his drone into the ocean and immediately made a dangerous impulse decision to retrieve it.
“Alone six miles offshore Capt. Dave, without thinking, dove into the cold, late-January waters off Dana Point to retrieve the valuable footage taken on a flight a half hour earlier that morning.”
‘I had my hat and glasses on, I was fully clothed with long-johns on to keep warm and my cell phone and wallet in my pocket,’ Captain Dave explained. ‘It was a stupid move, but the copter started sinking so fast it was my only hope to get the amazing footage I had just shot.’
It was certainly a risky move, but one that paid off in the end.
Next, in the video, Captain Dave showcases a newborn Humpback whale calf swimming next to its mom off the coast of Maui, Hawaii.
The playful calf is snuggling up to the momma whale while swimming along and definitely looks like it is having a lot of fun.
Another whale stands guard in the back carefully following them and keeping an eye out as they swim carefree through the water.
It really is absolutely stunning the footage Captain Dave was able to capture.
“This is the most beautiful and compelling five minute video I have ever put together,” Captain Dave said.
“I learned so much about these whales and dolphins from this drone footage that it feels like I have entered a new dimension! I have not been this excited about a new technology since we built our underwater viewing pods on our whale watching boat. Drones are going to change how we view the animal world. Wow!”
Drones are certainly an amazing new technology that now allow anyone to take incredible aerial footage for a mere fraction of the price of what it used to cost in the past.
We will be very excited to see what other beautiful marine life scenes Captain Dave is able to capture in the future.
See the whole video below of Captain Dave’s incredible dolphin and whale drone footage.
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