A California boat captain has captured rare video of a super pod of more than 2,000 dolphins breaching off the coast of Monterey Bay, including the more elusive northern right whale dolphin, AP reports.

Northern right whale dolphins are often spotted farther away from shore and in deeper waters, but Evan Brodsky, a captain and videographer with private boat tour company Monterey Bay Whale Watch, encountered the mammals last week about 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the harbor.

Brodsky was out around noon Friday with two other crew members conducting research when they spotted a dozen dolphins. They followed the pod until they estimated there were more than 2,000 dolphins, including light gray baby calves, and several hundred Pacific white-sided dolphins.

Northern right whale dolphins live in pods of 100 to 200 dolphins, according to the nonprofit Whale and Dolphin Conservation. They are gregarious and highly social and often mix with other dolphin species.