[CINC] 6/30 Condor Express

[Bernardo Alps]

Hi all.

This was the annual American Cetacean Society/Los Angeles Chapter charter, which was scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It took as almost twice as long as normal to get to the west end of Santa Cruz Island because of the rough waters. The swells were not huge, but a westward current was making them steep and the interval was very short. About halfway between the mid-channel buoy and the spot where we found the first humpback some four miles north of the west end we ran into a large pod of long-beaked common dolphins that stretched out for miles. While we were following the lone humpback we saw many spouts to the east and decided to check them out. 

There were several blue and humpback whales singly and in pairs feeding over the ledge, roughly between the cave and Prisoner's Harbor. A lone and smallish humpback was particularly frisky; we saw it tail-throwing and chin-slapping in the distance and it did lift its head out of the water while playing with a kelp paddy. It did also lunge and trumpet blow practically under the bow of the Condor Express. There was a thick krill layer at 40 fathoms and there were a few isolated krill patches on the surface and our humpback did some feeding lunges through those, including one spectacularly close to the boat. 

We spent some three hours in the area but left earlier than we had hoped for because the wind had increased to 35 knots by early afternoon and was making things uncomfortable. Just as we turned north we were again surrounded by a large pod of long-beaked common dolphins, likely the same pod we had seen earlier. We headed to the Carpinteria coast and took some close looks at platforms Habitat and Henry. From there we checked out a pod of about 75 long-beaked common dolphins that was accompanied by a decent bird flock and then returned to Santa Barbara.  

Like on my last few trips over the past few weeks there uncharacteristically few birds. We saw a total of about 75 sooty shearwaters, mainly about three to five miles from the coast and about the same distance from the island. We saw a single pink-footed shearwater (we saw three on 6/21 and one on 6/12). The only alcids we saw were a pair of Cassin's auklets, but the conditions were not favorable to spot this kind of bird. 

The Heermann's gulls are now here in good numbers. There are over ten species of gulls that spend the winter in our area, and the Heermann's gulls are the first to arrive. They breed earlier that all the other species and are therefore done first. Almost the entire population nests on a single island, Isla Raza, in the central Sea of Cortez. They have been arriving in Southern California for the past couple of weeks and in August we can expect the first juveniles. 

I also saw my first elegant terns of the season in the channel. The majority of birds of this species also nest on Isla Raza in the Sea of Cortez with much smaller colonies in San Diego Bay, Bolsa Chica in Orange County, and in the Port of Los Angeles. They have a peculiar migration pattern. After the breeding season, many individuals head north along the coast as far as San Francisco Bay and northern California and sometimes to British Columbia. These are the birds that we are beginning to see in the channel. In the fall they turn around and head south and winter off the coast of South America from Guatemala to central Chile. 

There were several pairs of Brandt's cormorants nesting on platform Henry which is not active anymore. While we didn't make it close enough to the island on Saturday, on previous trips I have observed hundreds of Brandt's cormorant nest on the cliffs along the west end of Santa Cruz Island; more than I remember seeing in the past.

This time I didn't see the horned grebe in breeding plumage in the harbor that I observed on my last two trips. It was near the bait receiver and near SEA Landing. This bird is well worth looking for as it is stunningly beautiful; the "horns" look like they are made of liquid gold. We usually have a few horned grebes among the more abundant eared grebes in the harbor during the winter but at that time they are very plain looking.

On 6/12 we saw a bald eagle soaring over the ridge a couple of mile west of the Painted Cave on SCI. This is the furthest west I have seen this species on the island.

Take care,

Bernardo  


Santa Barbara Harbor, Santa Barbara, US-CA
Jun 30, 2012 8:08 AM - 8:14 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments:     All day ACS/LA whale watching trip aboard the Condor Express
8 species

Double-crested Cormorant  20
Brown Pelican  75
Snowy Egret  3
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Heermann's Gull  35
Western Gull  50
Caspian Tern  1
Barn Swallow  1

Offshore--Santa Cruz Island vicinity (SBA Co.), Santa Barbara, US-CA
Jun 30, 2012 8:14 AM - 1:14 PM
Protocol: Traveling
85.0 mile(s)
Comments:     All day ACS/LA whale watching trip aboard the Condor Express
9 species

Surf Scoter  1
Pink-footed Shearwater  1
Sooty Shearwater  75
Brandt's Cormorant  25
Brown Pelican  35
Heermann's Gull  50
Western Gull  125
Elegant Tern  12
Cassin's Auklet  2