[CINC] Condor X 7-14-12

[A H]

25 Humpbacks
11 Blues
800 Common Dolphins

Pec slapping, poop, multiple breaches

Naturalists
Valerie Olson
Anna Hilliard

This was the kind of day you write home about! We left the harbor with
around 40 passengers, and headed to the west end of Santa Cruz, catching a
small group of commons on the way. After catching some fog midway out, the
sky cleared beautifully. When we got to the feeding grounds, the whales
were everywhere. For the next several hours we were surrounded by humpbacks
and blues, displaying almost every kind of behavior. The blues fluked, the
humpbacks fluked 3 and 4 in tandem, pec slapped, played with kelp, pooped
right near us, blew misty breath in our faces, and the coup-de-grace- a
pair of humpbacks breached in turns several hundred yards off the bow,
launching themselves 3/4 the way out of the water! One would breach, then
the other, and back and forth they went for several minutes. We also saw
Barnacle Betty, swimming right near the boat with a pair of adults.

Valerie and I took turns frantically jotting down data, while the other
made the rounds with the enthralled passengers. I had the chance to work
with a blind young woman, and we had a lively discussion, using the whale
models and baleen in her hands to provide a tactile description of the
whales' physiology, and behaviors that we were seeing. Meanwhile, she
helped me focus my other senses to observe them: the sounds of the whales
moving in the water (they were only 20 feet away at times) and breathing,
the smell and taste of their blows that blew onto our faces. It was a
wonderful challenge to adapt my interpretive skills.

After hours of non-stop whales, the passengers took the chance to sit down,
and we ended the day with Painted Cave, which drew them right back out on
deck again. Just when the trip was about to end, we spotted another group
of a few hundred commons, right outside the harbor. A wonderful way to end
an incredible day!

-Anna Hilliard
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