Bottlenose dolphins leaping in the standing waves of Tiputa pass on Rangiroa at sunset

Explained

The dolphins
of Tiputa pass.

On Rangiroa, when the tide turns and the lagoon empties through Tiputa pass against the ocean swell, a resident pod of bottlenose dolphins comes to play in the standing waves.

Tiputa pass, Rangiroa

A community of 25 to 30 bottlenose dolphins lives around Tiputa pass all year. They are not migrants. The pass is their territory, and the outgoing tide, when lagoon water pours into the ocean swell and stands up in waves, is their playground.

01 · How to see them

The end of
the road, at dusk.

The main motu's one road runs about ten kilometres from Avatoru to the Ohotu wharf at the pass. At the point, around sunset, the outgoing current meets the swell and the dolphins surf and leap in the standing waves. No boat is needed and nothing is charged. Divers meet them underwater on the pass drifts, and a few individuals have learned to approach divers closely; the local research group asks that nobody touches them.

The pod has been studied for years by the Groupe d'Étude des Mammifères Marins de Polynésie, which photo-identifies individuals by their dorsal fins. Rangiroa's dolphins are one of the best-documented resident bottlenose populations in the Pacific, and their habituation to divers is the subject of ongoing research into whether it does them harm.

02 · Watching well

The rules.

From the shore: Ohotu point, end of the road, around sunset. Free.
Underwater: On the Tiputa drift with a dive centre; let the animals approach, never the reverse.
Touching: No. The research group asks it, and the dolphins' habituation is already a concern.
Season: All year. The pod is resident.