Day of the Dolphins : Sightings: Dozens park along the road to marvel at a group of 25 bottlenecks as they swim off the coast near Ventura. Some even jump into the ocean to join the mammals.

Donna Alija was driving to work on the Ventura Freeway along the Rincon when she spotted a school of 25 dolphins playing just off the shoreline Thursday morning.

She pulled her car off the highway, kicked off her shoes and jumped into the ocean near La Conchita to join them.

“Yeah, I’m late, but work won’t mind, we do research with dolphins,” the Ventura resident said. “When I saw them, I knew I had to grab the moment and go for it.

“They circled all around me and even the mothers with their babies came close. I could actually feel the sonar going through me. Swimming with them is incredible. It’s a euphoric feeling.”

Alija, who works for a dolphin research firm called the Delphys Foundation in Carpinteria, wasn’t the only one to take a break from her schedule and stop along the Rincon as the dolphins frolicked for more than four hours.

Four others partly stripped and braved the nippy waters off the coast 10 miles north of Ventura to swim along, and two kayakers almost tipped over trying to pet the mammals as the dolphins swam and jumped nearby.

And dozens of other passersby parked along the side of the road to watch, point and shout whenever one of the seven- to nine-foot dolphins jumped out of the water.

Standing by his car in a blue suit and tie, Roland Parker stared toward the ocean, lamenting that he couldn’t go out and join the fun.

“I have an appointment to get to in Sherman Oaks,” said the Laguna Beach sales representative who had just finished a business trip in Santa Barbara. “I’m going to be late because I stopped, but it’s worth it. How often do you have a chance to see something like this?”

According to some local experts, it is very uncommon to see a bottlenose dolphin in these waters, especially so close to shore. But Albert Stevens, who has studied dolphins for the past 13 years and who swam with the Rincon group Thursday after being called by Alija, said the bottlenose variety is common throughout most of the Ventura and Santa Barbara coast.

“When you’re swimming with an animal only one foot away from you, you can definitely tell the species and this was definitely a bottlenose.”

The dolphins, known for the sharp, distinct shape of their snouts, came to this area from San Diego in 1983 when local waters warmed because of a global weather change known as the El Nino effect, Stevens said. He added that many members of the Rincon group were first photographed in San Diego.

“You can recognize a dolphin by its fin, it’s almost like a fingerprint,” he said.

The Rincon is one of the best-known areas to watch dolphins because it is both visible from the freeway and accessible. The waters near the Main Street exit in Ventura and along the beaches by Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara are also favorite spots, Alija said.

Scott Morey, who was sitting on the rocks and cheering whenever a dolphin made a good jump, remembered seeing a group of the mammals in the same spot about four years ago.

“There must have been 300 of them here that time, just playing and riding the waves back to the beach and then swimming out and riding the waves back in,” said Morey, who lived in Ventura before moving to Fillmore.

“I’ve seen a group this big, about 20 or so, a few times before. But it’s always remarkable. Every time I spot them I have to stop and watch for a couple of hours.”

This was the first time Nita Conyers had seen the dolphins even though she frequently passes the area traveling from her residence in Lompoc to her mother’s in Oxnard.

“All this time I’ve been going back and forth and I’ve never seen them before,” she said. “But shoot, this time you couldn’t miss them, there were so many and you could see them right from the street. The three cars traveling right in front of me all pulled over too.

“This is so beautiful, I can’t believe it. I am so happy I was here for this because I love dolphins. I’ve even boycotted tuna.”