[CINC] Condor Express, August 12th

[Carol Celic]

100 Common Dolphins
6 Blues
18 Humpbacks

Fellow Naturalists: Cubby Winkel, Carole Rosales

Ever hard working crew: Capt. Mat, DJ, Matt

With over 100 passengers we set out on a gray day, but the seas were pretty
calm. We headed out towards Santa Rosa Island in search of adventure.

Our first pair of Humpbacks were a friendly pair who graced us with very
close-up views as they got close-up views of those on board.

In the distance many spouts were seen, it looked like a wall of spouts that
hung in the air due to the lack of wind. Captain Mat decided to pursue
those, as it appeared there were Blues in that group. What we got was so
much more, first it started with a group of six or so Humpbacks heading
towards us in a line on our left, then another group of six plus seemed to
make the Condor Express their destination coming up quickly from behind on
the right. We were treated to some close up views and the sound of lots and
lots blows.

Then the a couple of Blues appeared, we went to observe them. A little while
later we were treated to a trio of Blues racing for several minutes in front
of us. The passengers were delighted, as well as myself to seeing the Blues
moving quickly and launching their heads out of the water like a submarine
coming to the surface.

I will have to say this trip rates among the top ten trips I have
participated in. Kudos to the Condor Crew and our Naturalists for their hard
work keeping the passengers content.

~ Carol Celic
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.rain.org/pipermail/channel_islands_naturalist_corps/attachments/20110814/c22537ff/attachment.html>