A video captured Saturday, Oct. 5 off the coast of Dana Point shows a dolphin “stampede,” where hundreds of the marine mammals race alongside a Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari catamaran boat — leaping and propelling themselves into the sky.

The breathtaking video shows an estimated 400 common dolphins speeding along the coast.

A similar mega-pod stampede captured by local waterman Chuck Patterson in July made international headlines.

The cause of dolphin stampedes is unknown, though it is thought the dolphins may be racing to catch a food source or meeting up with another pod of dolphins, according to a news release from Capt. Dave’s.

Sign up for our Coast Lines newsletter , a weekly digest of news and features on how the residents of the SoCal coast are building ties to their changing environment. Subscribe here

“The dolphins are not scared of the boat,” it reads. “Porpoising is the fastest mode of travel for dolphins because there is less resistance in the air than water. Dolphin stampedes can happen without warning or anything frightening them.”

First mate and photographer Buck Munson called Saturday a perfect day on the water in Dana Point.

“I got lucky filming some common dolphin jumping and playing then bursting into a rarely seen stampede,” he says in the release.

Southern California has the greatest density of dolphins per square mile of anywhere on Earth, including nearly 450,000 common dolphins, as well as several other species. Mega pods off Dana Point can be seen in herds of up to 10,000 animals, according to the release.