WATCH: Dolphins Greet Astronauts at Splashdown!

It was a picture-perfect splashdown as American astronauts Suni Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore finally arrived home after spending 286 days in space. They were accompanied by two SpaceX Dragon crew members who assisted in the rescue.And not only was the weather perfect in the Gulf of America off the coast of Florida today, but the astronauts on Crew-9 were greeted by a curious pod of dolphins!

Dolphins really pulled up to the splashdown like they were the rescue crew pic.twitter.com/IPw05BPrUE

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) March 18, 2025

The recovery crew was all business, focused on retrieving the astronauts from the vessel, but they no doubt were tickled pink to see the playful mammals near their boat.

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The astronauts are currently going through the standard medical evaluations, but they all looked happy and healthy when the door to the space capsule opened.

JUST IN: Suni Williams is seen being helped up after exiting the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

This is her first time feeling gravity on Earth in *9 months.*

That must be an insane feeling.pic.twitter.com/eqETiEyMUN

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 18, 2025

“Wow! We got a cute little pod of dolphins, not just one or two,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during the NASA-SpaceX webcast of Crew-9’s entry, descent and landing.