[CINC] Great day on Santa Cruz Island

[Catherine French]

January 7 was a beautiful day to be on SCI at Scorpion. We had an extra drop off of passengers from the canceled Vanguard trip to AI due to swell in the cove.

Carole Rosales (VC) and I (hike) were both on the 9:00 Island Adventure with Capt. Lee, Capt. Steve, able crew Andrea and Paige.

Enroute we got a short glimpse of a gray whale that was shy and didn't seem to want us to see him/her, so it "snorkeled" passed us, but most got at least one view of the whale.

The marine layer gave way to a glorious day on the island. I had 15 for a hike and Carole had 9 from the 13 passengers that the Islander dropped off before heading out on a whale watch. Carole is also hike certified, so she was able to take the late arrivers on a Cavern Point hike as well.

Foxes were spied in the afternoon and on the way home, more whales. Folks had mentioned that they had seen several from the Potato Harbor bluff trail and we were able to get really good views and many flukes from three whales. Took us a while to figure out why they were staying in the same place, turns out there was some mating behavior going in, but in the glaring late afternoon sun it was difficult to detect.

A few Risso's came by, but not close enough for good viewing. Then, amazingly near the rig line we sighted a minke, and really did get to see it, then another one nearer shore gave us some very good viewing. It was a fabulous day. Capt. Lee spotted some bottlenose inside the harbor, but I missed them. 

Carole and I signed up 5 junior rangers. It was a great day.


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

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