[CINC] Condor Express 1-12-12

[Larry Driscoll]

A great day on the water with Cpts. Mat, Dave and Mate, Brook.

Fellow CINC naturalists on the trip were Sally Eagle (PID) and Cubby Winkel.

Bright and sunny all day with some haze at the islands - swells 2-3' 

On the way out we encountered a megapod of about 1500 common dolphin. Then, on 
arrival at the west end of SC followed the release of an eight- month-old sea 
lion and a murre  by the Channel Island Marine and Wildlife Institute which had 
rescued and rehabilitated them. (The sea lion was a pup when they got it.)

Near and in the passage between SC and SR we came upon approx 600 Risso's 
dolphins showing lots of breaching activity.  


Next was the sighting of two gray whales who dove and surfaced a few times and 
then commenced copulating for a long time, surrounded by (curious?) sea lions 
and Risso's dolphins.  There was sea life al around including birds and many sea 
lions in the water temperature regulating.

On the way back in, about 10 minutes from the harbor we spotted approximately 10 
Pacific White-sided Dolphins which was a fun way to end the trip.  


The trip included several locals, folks from Sweden and a couple of other 
countries and about 10 people from CIMWI.
 Larry Driscoll
larry.driscoll at sbcglobal.net 
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