[CINC] Condor July 5

[garydel at aol.com]

 Just the facts...

Blues.......... 4
Common Dolfins........... 1000+
Puffin ........   1


The first blue was a solitary soul doing the 7-8 minute dive between appearances. When in view, s/he presented good dorsal views, but no flukes. Later, with at least 3 (actually seen) Blues in the area, Capts. Matt and Dave focused on another large Blue that we followed for quite some time. S/he never did the classic deep dive, but instead lunge fed continuously at the surface on very evident clouds of krill. In fact, clouds of krill were evident as they entered the whale, and also as they left... whale poop. This feeding cycle revealed the Blue's deeply pleated throat and its great length as it lunged across the surface of the water, on its side. Really... a wonderful sequence of behaviors! The 2 other distant Blues repeatedly showed their ample flukes as they dove. 

A smaller pod of Commons, somewhat dispersed, welcomed us to the channel less than midway across. Similarly, a larger and tighter pod was seen on the way home.

Now the puffin... a tufted one, seen approximately mid channel, all alone, but putting on a bit of show wing flapping, preening, etc. Two of the Condor's frequent and professional birders were aboard for this rare treat and one birder from Texas was very thrilled at this sighting. 

About 60 passengers from the UK, Belgium, Wisconsin, Texas and other foreign and domestic locales seemed to have appreciated this day's adventure.  Always gray and overcast, but that may be why the krill was at the surface. Beaufort about a 1, with very minimal swells. Carol Celic on Photo ID, and me....

Gary Delanoeye


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