[CINC] IPCO Vanguard April 10

[Pam Yerger]

AM trip:
1 humpback2 grays (cow/calf)numerous dolphins in distance - about 5 to 10 near boat.
PM trip:
NO WHALEShuge pod of apx 2000 dolphins with hundreds of babies and juveniles - feeding, mating and playing
As Paul said about the Condor trip, it was the calm before the storm.  Both morning and afternoon trips on the Vanguard left in calm seas with lots of sunshine.
The morning trip headed along the coast and near Port Hueneme we spotted a lone humpback who eventually came close to the boat and provide passengers with excellent views of spouts and tail flukes.  Very clear tail marking were able to be seen and we got at least 4 tail shots.  Then as we headed back to Channel Islands Harbor we spotted a cow/calf pair of gray whales on their northward home migration.  They stayed mostly just below the surface but did show several blows and a couple of times passengers were able to see their backs.  On our way out we also saw a very small group of common dolphins several of which came to ride the boat wake.  We could see others in the distance but they never came very close to the boat.  About 25 passengers from New Zealand and North Carolina, as well as several local family groups on spring break, were delighted with the sightings.  We had one birthday gal onboard who said that it was the best birthday ever!
The afternoon group was a bit larger than the morning group and had folks from Germany, Switzerland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and again there were a number of local families enjoying a day on the water for spring break.  We were unable to head down to see if we could find the humpback and/or greys from the morning due to live fire exercises in the area, so we headed out to Gina and when we found no sign of dolphins or whales, Captain Jason took us out to Anacapa and delighted passengers with a terrific view of Cabrillo's Arch and a number of sunning sea lions on the rocks.  The still illusive whales and dolphins were not to be found until we were a couple miles off the east side of the island and found a huge pod of about 2000 dolphins.  It appeared to be a nursery pod with what appeared to be hundreds of babies and juveniles.  they also exhibited some mating behaviors and had clearly been feeding as hundreds of Western Gulls swarmed the outlying waters for any remnants of their lunch!  We stayed with this pod for quite some time until we had to head back to port.  Even though we did not see any whales, passengers were so thrilled with the dolphins they didn't seem to mind.
This was the last whale watching trip until blue season on the Vanguard and Captain Jason, crew Steve and Joel, did an incredible job narrating for passengers and making sure they were safe, fed and happy.
Pam Yerger naturalist


 		 	   		  
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