This the remarkable moment a pod of dolphins stampede off the coast of Newport Beach, California.

The clip, filmed on September 7, shows the dolphins stampeding for several minutes while the awestruck crew on a whale watching boat looked on.

"We see this species of dolphin almost every day throughout the year here but typically they're going at a much slower pace or there might just be a couple jumping randomly, so to see them all stampeding is pretty spectacular," filmer Mark Girardeau, an experienced wildlife photographer based in Orange County, told Newsflare. "We don't know exactly why they do it when they do."

Girardeau was riding with whale watching tour agency Newport Coastal Adventure.

A large pod of common dolphin stampeding for several minutes! Filmed off the coast of Newport Beach, CA, USA. We see this species of dolphin almost every day throughout the year here but typically they're going at a much slower pace or there might just be a couple jumping randomly so to see them all stampeding is pretty spectacular. We don't know exactly why they do it when they do but there are several reasons in speculation. Please include "Newport Coastal Adventure" in the credits.