[CINC] Condor May 26, 2011

[Catherine French]

Actually, it was CINC volunteer Valerie Olson who noticed the lobe as the whale took a vertical sound and she got to see it!



Calm Seas,
 
Catherine French
Writer, mentor, naturalist
805.570.0432
To own is to have; to share with friends, is to enjoy.




-----Original Message-----
From: Bernardo Alps <whalephoto at earthlink.net>
To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org
Sent: Fri, May 27, 2011 1:29 pm
Subject: Re: [CINC] Condor May 26, 2011


Hi Laura, Catherine et al.
 
Phil Clapham writes in the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals: "There are no easily observable differences between male and female humpbacks. Females possess a grapefruit-sized lobe at the rear of the genital slit: this lobe is absent in males (Glockner-Ferrari and Ferrari, 1990)," http://books.google.com/books?id=2rkHQpToi9sC&pg=PA582&lpg=PA582&dq=female+humpback+lobe&source=bl&ots=hDeAMu67rx&sig=ypa-yxURByLthLWRskJKey9_Sv0&hl=en&ei=mgHgTZjqKpS-sAPU4NmfBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=female%20humpback%20lobe&f=false
 
Since the whale was lobtailing very close to the Condor Express, the captains saw the little bump in the genital area. It is called the hemispherical lobe and was discovered by Debbie Glockner in Hawaii in the early 1980s.
 
Take care,
 
Bernardo





-----Original Message----- 
From: Laura Shelton 
Sent: May 27, 2011 12:35 PM 
To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org 
Subject: Re: [CINC] Condor May 26, 2011 




Hi Naturalists,
Regarding it being a female humpback, that was decided by the Captain Mat and Captain Dave team that either got that from the many tail lobs or a position they saw the whale in during a dive. I wanted to ask that same question. They did give some details and I need a recap. Anyone?   Thanks for asking Catherine!!


Laura 

--- On Fri, 5/27/11, Catherine French <cfrench1366 at aol.com> wrote:


From: Catherine French <cfrench1366 at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CINC] Condor May 26, 2011
To: "Laura Shelton" <laura_email2000 at yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, May 27, 2011, 8:18 AM


Wow, how can you know it was a female? Haven't met anyone who can, not even marine biologist just from a look. What's the secret?



Calm seas,


Catherine French


Writer, naturalist, mentor
805.570.0432
To own is to have; to share with friends, is to enjoy.
Sent from i love my iPad

On May 27, 2011, at 7:03 AM, Laura Shelton <laura_email2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:






Good Morning Naturalists: 


6 Dall's Porpoise (bow riding)
3 Humpback 
(One lone female lob tailing and tail throwing many times (about 15 X) while feeding)
(One mother and calf)
1 Blue Whale


Rough seas and a gallant crew including Captains Mat and Dave and Brooke and 60ish passengers that were forewarned about rough seas, enjoyed clearer that average waters in the Channel again, and good sightings! We definitely had some seasickness. Our sightings were amazingly good considering the really rough conditions between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa where we found the whales. We were definitely at the Santa Cruz--closer end but it was quite the trip out there. Seas were much calmer till about 10 miles out. 


Rae, Don G (at Photo ID) and Laura S represented the CINC.


Two fun extras:
One gal said "One thing off her Bucket List" when she saw her first Blue Whale!
One European woman was the most courageous seasick person I have ever seen on a boat. She was practically carried to the front of the boat by her hugely enthusiastic and encouraging boyfriend to see the Blue whale and Humpback whale when seas were at their most challenging!


Thanks,


Laura S. 






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