[CINC] CX Sat April 13 - Entanglement

[Mr Zalophus]

The old Condor ran three trips with calm, glassy seas today, with overcast,
semi-foggy skies.  A total of 9 gray whales were observed, some friendly,
others a bit more secretive. The most eventful sighting was during the 9am
adventure where we sighted a cow-calf pair not too far from SB Harbor.
Upon arriving in the area near the two whales, it became apparent that one
of them (we still do not know which one) was entangled in a long line of
polyproplylene rope attached to a few styrofoam buoys.  This was the kind
of of line used on commercial lobster and crab traps. So the pair of whales
traveled at a slow pace, dragging the rope and its float behind them.  The
danger of this kind of entanglement includes abrasion or possible infection
of the tail stock region, or the possibility that the rope would become
fouled in a kelp bed or boat propeller which would spell the worst for the
whale.  Also the energy drain on the whale as well as the limitations it
imposed on maneuverability are considerations.

And so it was that Captain Dave, a fully trained and certified whale rescue
man, made the appropriate calls to local whale rescue response teams.
Response personnel from CIMWI (Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife
Institute), Santa Barbara Mammal Center, and Sea World of the Pacific
eventually arrived on two separate boats.  Keeping track of the two whales
was not an easy task with the grey skies and limited visibility, coupled
with long down times and lack of a clear directional heading by the
whales.  For a while, Condor Captain Scott had stand his 6’4” frame atop
the wheelhouse roof with binoculars to help keep us on track. The Condor
stayed with the cow-calf pair for just over two hours until the first
response boat arrived.

By this time, we were late getting our 9am trip back to Sea Landing and
picking up our 12 noon passengers.  But Captain Dave kept in contact with
the entanglement response boats and after a while we learned that they
never were able to initiate the rescue sequence and the elusive whales had
disappeared in the fog.

Photos of the entangled cow-calf pair will be available for your viewing
enjoyment sometime tomorrow.    http://www.CondorExpressPhotos.com

Best regards,
Bob Perry
Condor Express
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.rain.org/pipermail/channel_islands_naturalist_corps/attachments/20130413/f79c7976/attachment.html>