Rhode Island DEM Captures Rare Dolphin Feeding Frenzy on Video

It certainly wasn't something Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management employees see every day, but on Tuesday they managed to capture a dolphin feeding frenzy on video while conducting routine water quality tests.

Workers were off the coast of Bristol in Mount Hope Bay, near the Mount Hope Bridge, when they noticed a lot of activity in the water and the air.

It turned out to be several seagulls flying over a small pod of dolphins, and everyone was trying to eat up some baitfish, a large school of which was swimming south.

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Lucky for us, they captured a video of the whole thing and shared it on Facebook.

You can see the fins of the dolphins as they dive around grabbing at fish as well as the seagulls swooping overhead, waiting for their share of the school.

Spotting this pod is actually great news for Mount Hope Bay. It was only in 2021 that these local waters were removed from the EPA’s impaired waters list under the Clean Water Act, so seeing dolphins eating here is a sure sign of a much healthier ecosystem in these coastal waters.

Mount Hope Bay is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, so perhaps this is the same pod of dolphins seen swimming near Fall River a few weeks ago.

We also certainly hope that the poor young dolphin that was stranded off a beach in Mattapoisett was back with the gang for this Bristol adventure.

RIDEM noted that dolphins are just some of the marine life you can find around local waters. You might also spot sea turtles, sharks and whales. The state used this event to remind boaters to slow down to avoid collisions with these beautiful creatures.