Video Shows Hundreds of Dolphins Stampeding Near Dana Point

DANA POINT (CBS SF) -- A tour boat captain posted a video of a rare site Monday: hundreds of dolphins stampeding off the coast of Dana Point.

Dave Anderson, the owner of Captain Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari, posted the video showing an estimated 300 dolphins traveling together at a high rate of speed while jumping out of the water.

In the text accompanying the video, Anderson described a dolphin stampede as dolphins "porpoising out of the water at a high rate of speed. Porpoising is the fastest mode of travel for dolphins because there is less resistance in the air than in water."

"It is not known exactly what causes common dolphins to stampede," Anderson wrote. "It's thought that the dolphins could be evading a predator such as orcas, racing to catch a food source, or meeting up with another pod of dolphins."

Anderson added that anything can cause a dolphin stampede and that his boat had nothing to do with the dolphins' behavior. "They're not scared of the boat," Anderson wrote.

The area around Dana Point in Southern California reports to host the greatest density of dolphins per square mile on earth. There's an estimated 450,000 dolphins -- the same kind stampeding in the video -- living off the coast. 

"Dana Point is one of the best places in the world to see large mega-pods that can number in herds of up to 10,000," Anderson wrote.