[CINC] Condor 9/28

[in]

Note... in the second paragraph... "several breaching cycles" should have been "several breathing cycles." The breaching came later. 

Sorry about that!!

Gary


-----Original Message-----
From: in <garydel at aol.com>
To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps <channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org>
Sent: Fri, Sep 28, 2012 5:54 pm
Subject: [CINC] Condor 9/28


5 Humpbacks
2 Minkes
703 Commons

Cpt. Mat took the Condor to the east, into the area where whales had been seen on previous days. On this day, a tip from another ship reinforced this decision. A modest pod of commons was encountered first, and then a typical look at a couple of typical Minkes... brief !
The first 2 humpies were seen next... "Rope" with her all black fluke and her partner with some white fluke patches. We watched them through several breaching cycles before heading out to scour the channel for other critters. More commons spotted on two occasions. Now, heading back to the west and back to SB, whales 3 and 4 appeared... an apparent mother calf pair.

And then the show began! Rope's partner, seen previously, reappeared and performed 4 breaches, each one closer to the Condor than the previous one. This whale circled the boat before disappearing.  If I may editorialize a bit, there was something aggressive about this display, I thought, perhaps having something to do with the nearby mother-calf pair.

Act 2... close and in sight of the harbor, Capt. Mat announced a huge splash in front of the Condor !  Another pair of breaches, and this whale had an all white fluke. This whale, I believe, I saw 2 weeks ago as Rope's partner.

As far as the people count goes... not sure, but about 30. I can be sure of the variety of guests, though. Very nice people from Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Germany, Holland, England, Wisconsin, Arizona and, believe it or not... Goleta!

 
Capt. Mat at the helm; Matt assisting and Tasha on galley duty. CINCers were Laura Shelton, Lisa Angle on challenging PID duty and yours truly...

 
Gary Delanoeye
 
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