[CINC] Condor Express, 5/5

[Bart Francis]

1 Gray Whale cow/calf pair.
4 Humpbacks lunge feeding.
2 Blues lunge feeding.
2 small groups of bottlenose dolphins.
2 Dahl's porpoises (who immediately disappeared).

Beautiful day out in the channel. Saw the grays and bottlenose along the coast up by UCSB. Were hoping to see 4 orcas that were reported earlier out by the oil platforms , but they never materialized. Headed out toward the SCI /SRI gap and then headed east along the shelf. Lots of crill in the water. Off mid-SCI we came across the Humpbacks, the first pair lethargically digesting and defecating. The second pair however, was involved in some serious lunge feeding on the surface and put on a great show. Then we spotted a Blue, also plundering the surface crill. Saw one more Blue on the way back, but no common dolphins. Everybody happy with the great show. Morgan Coffey was the other naturalist.
Bart Francis