pod

Reader's Digest 12月号に掲載の、シャークに襲われた女性をシャークと戦って助けた記事、The Shark Wrestler、に今日採り上げる単語が何度も使われていたので覚えたいと思います。
This trip was a special treat for their 24-year-old daughter Megan, visiting from Brisbane. Julie rarely ventured into the water. Today she was content to sit on the deck. She could relax, chat and photograph Trevor and Megan with the pod of dolphins.
"pod" には豆などの鞘や、着脱式の容器の意味があったと思いますが、上の引用文の "pod" は全く違う意味で使われていますね。　この "pod" はこの後にも次ぎの様に出てきます。
As they waited, Frankcom and her colleagues shared exciting news with their passengers: a dolphin in a familial pod had given birth the previous week and they had hopes of seeing the week-old calf.
...
A crew member spotted another small pod: it was two females and a newborn calf that couldn't have been more than a couple of hours old.
こうなると "pod" には群れの意味があるのではと推測できます。辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: a small group of animals, esp seals, whales, or birds: At Dolphin House, lucky divers might spot a pod of spinner dolphins, their black fins slicing the water.
・Oxford English Dictionary: a small herd or school of marine animals, especially whales: ‘a pod of 500 dolphins frolicking in the bay’