[CINC] Condor Wed Aug 29th

[Pam Yerger]

Another fine day onthe Channel!
2 humpbacks4 minkes1500 common dolphins1 mola mola
Birds:2 Yagersnumerous sooty shearwaters, pelicans, western gulls, cormorants
The day was warm, sunny, calm and perfect for whale watching!  An almost full boat of passengers from Kenya, Canada, Turkey, Ohio, Texas and cities too numerous to mention were not disappointed by Captain Matt as he took us to the East rather than out to the normal gap area and quickly found us several small pods of commons and then 2 humpbacks. We stayed with these 2 whales for over an hour as they put on quite a show for passengers.  Rope and a second female came right up to the boat and logged alongside giving us a close up show of heads, mouths, and fins and bodies.  Some spy hopping took place but we only got a couple views of tail flukes.  Off in the distance we spotted several minkes, and passengers were able to get some good looks at their fins and quick dives.  We shared some of our whale time with the IPCO's Islander.
We passed through several pods of commons, one of which was fairly large and populated with numerous babies and juveniles.  They put on the normal show of bow riding, jumping and swimming right up and under the bow and sides of the boat, all to the delight of passengers, many of whom were on their first whale watching trip.
Captain Matt spotted a mola mola splashing on the surface and took the boat by for a nice view before we attempted to head out to the islands.  the wind was picking up out there and he decided it would take us 2+ hours to get the additional 14 miles, so he took us back to the whales and we watched them for awhile longer before turning back towards home port.
Crew Matt and Brooke were kept busy keeping passengers happy and fed!
Fellow naturalists were Dawn Erickson and Carolyn McCleslky on PID.
Pam Yerger



 		 	   		  
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