[CINC] 6/30 Condor Express

[Mr Zalophus]

Colleagues,
Photos of the mammals, fish and scenery sighted on yesterdays ACS-LA
charter are now posted on the Condor Express Photos site:
http://www.condorexpressphotos.com/Other/2012-06-30-SB-Channel-ACS

Best,
Bob Perry
Condor Express

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bernardo Alps <whalephoto at earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 12:36 PM
Subject: [CINC] 6/30 Condor Express
To: CINC <channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org>
Cc: Alisa Schulman Janiger <janiger at cox.net>


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


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