[CINC] White Shark Sighting

[Cliff Rodrigues]

September 20, 2012
 
What a day! What a beautiful, exciting day on the Condor!  Around 1 PM there was a White Shark sighting (N 34.24887    W 119.32111) off the Carpinteria coast.  As Captains Dave and Matt said this was a first for them in all the years of working in the Channel. It happened so quickly that people ran to the edges of the boat but no one was able to take a picture. The shark was estimated to be about 13 feet.
 
It was a routine day starting with the obligatory greeting from the sea lions at the buoys leaving the SB Harbor. Just a few minutes out we encountered two humpbacks. One was Rope. We stayed with them for a long time as they surfaced and dived many times to the delight of the passengers.
 
Going East several pods of dolphins were encountered. An estimate was about a total of 700 common dolphins.
 
We were also treated to a special up-close look at oil Platform “A”. Captain Dave gave a great historical background of this particular platform talking about the oil spill of 1969.
 
Special Guests on board were Shawn Hasting, from our local CINMS Office;  LeAnn Hogan, Fisheries Management Specialist, National Marine Fisheries Service  (NMFS)  Wash. DC and John Armor,  Chief of Conservation Policy and Planning Division, National Ocean Service, NOAA  Wash. DC.
 
There were about 35 passengers representing England, Switzerland, Holland,  Arizona and California.
 
CINC Staff:  John Kuizenga, Natalie Swan, and Cliff Rodrigues
Cliff Rodrigues
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