'A movie scene’: Incredible moment dolphins surround Dragon capsule as Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore return | Watch

A video shows a pod of dolphins surrounding the SpaceX Crew Dragon as Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth.

A viral video shared on X shows a pod of dolphins surrounding the SpaceX Crew Dragon as astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth after being stranded in space for nine months. The astronauts splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just before 6 pm EST Tuesday, March 18. They happily emerged from their rescue capsule after being stranded on the International Space Station for months.

This still image from a NASA+ livestream shows recovery vessels approaching the Dragon capsule with the SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts shortly after splashdown on March 18, 2025, off the coast of Florida. The SpaceX craft is returning stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They are joined onboard by NASA's Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. (Photo by Handout / NASA+ / AFP)(AFP)

“Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” a mission-control dispatcher radioed the crew shortly after the capsule Dragon Freedom splashed down.

A video surfacing on X appears to show dolphins surrounding the capsule, almost as if to welcome the astronauts home. It was shared by an X user with the caption, “A pod of DOLPHINS have surrounded the SpaceX Dragon, welcoming the astronauts back to Earth. Love to see this. God’s creatures and the Gulf of America are amazing.”

‘It’s literally a movie scene’

Many X users rejoiced in the comment section, with one saying, “Dolphins are the humans of the sea”. “Absolutely incredible creatures,” one user said, while another wrote, “Even the dolphins know America is back.” A user exclaimed, “It’s literally a movie scene”. Another said, “I’m not sure this could get any better. It’s like a fairy tale ending to a great movie.”

“Even the dolphins celebrate a MAGA victory! Trump, Elon, and SpaceX rescue our heroes while the left cries. America First. land, sea, and space!” one user wrote, while another said, “The pod of dolphins added extra poignancy.” “God was watching over the Capsule and saw them safely home,” wrote one user. Another said, “When we’re out fishing they come and swim with the boat. They’re incredible”.

During their extra time in space, the stranded astronauts conducted around 150 experiments, which were about 900 hours worth. Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for space operations, told reporters that this will be instrumental in the future of human space travel, according to the New York Post.