[CINC] Today, Whale-watching CX

[Maria G. Ornelas]

Hi Naturalists,

The numbers and sea conditions:

4 Humpback whales
1 Minke whale
 > 1000 Common dolphins
~ 25 Common dolphins
3 Risso's dolphins
lots of birds on the water feeding
Captains Mat and Dave. Brooke at galley
25 passengers from Oklahoma, Germany, Canada, and England. Naturalists  
Gary Delanoeye, and myself
Calm seas, Beaufort ~ 1
Overcast but visibility was good

The Magic:

We encountered the small pod of commons just thirty minutes into the  
trip, followed by the larger pod. The larger pod was spread out over a  
large distance. A few looked a bit shabby, but overall they looked  
fine: big, energetic, and fast.  It was a lovely beginning. People  
where taking pictures right and left. When Cptn. spotted the whales,  
everyone went out to meet them. One of the humpbacks went off on its  
own, but the other three stayed together throughout the hour and a  
half of observation. The Minke was close and in front of the  
humpbacks. Gary got busy on PI.

At times the whales were traveling slowly while feeding at the  
surface. At times they came within 20-30 feet from the boat. They went  
under the boat and appeared at the other side. They treated us to  
beautiful flukes and vocalization. They were massive, lovely adults.  
On our way back to the harbor, we caught up with the small pod of  
Risso's. The passengers were relaxed and fully satisfied. A couple of  
them said the experience was "Magical". Indeed!!!

Maria G. Ornelas
maria at rasnowpeak.com

          \ /                      \ /
´¯'·.¸¸..><((((º>.·´¯'·.¸¸.·´¯'·.¸><((({º>¸.·´¯'·.¸. ,.
          / \                      / \






-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.rain.org/pipermail/channel_islands_naturalist_corps/attachments/20101014/ecff5d4a/attachment.html>