DANA POINT, Calif. — Sea watchers on the California coast got to experience an amazing site — a dolphin stampede. Luckily, it was captured on video.

The video, which was shared by Storyful this week, showed a dolphin stampede that was comprised of about 5,000 dolphins, USA Today reported.

The video was shot at the “dolphin and whale watching capital” of the world, Dana Point last month Still, it was an amazing sight to see the animals jumping through the water.

The Orange County Register said they were long-beaked common dolphins and that the video was captured by people on rigid inflatable watercraft.

Gisele Anderson, operator of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari called the experience “off the charts” and “the best footage of 2024.”

It isn’t known what causes dolphins to stampede and it seems to happen spontaneously. Some believe that it happens when a pod comes across another group, or trying to catch food, or trying to escape predators such as orcas, the Register said.

“It was so exciting; they were leaping alongside,” Loriannah Hespe, who shot the video, told the Register. “It was very emotional. It was the most amazing encounter I’ve ever seen. There were young ones, old ones and babies, and they were all going really fast.”

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