[CINC] Thurs 4/18 on the Condor

[mardanne at silcom.com]

We had a great noon trip on the Condor today.  The other two trips did not go.

8 Gray whales, with two more passing us by..
10-12 Bottlenose dolphins

We found a cow/calf pair in the kelp off Hope Ranch and followed them for about 45 minutes.  They were moving in and out of the kelp and not showing much of their bodies.

After we turned back, Captain Dave had heard there were more Grays coming!  We saw a group of two cow/calf pairs next, they were traveling fast, then stopping and playing in the kelp.  We were able to see much more of the whales, as the calves were lifting their heads, and there was some rolling.  I was able to get some good id shots of the moms and some fair ones of the calves.

As we left these two, there were two more whales to between us and the shore and two whales ahead.  We were running late, so we passed the ones to move ahead and meet up with the ones ahead.  One breached at least 6 times.  They eventually passed us moving quickly and appeared to be two juvenile Grays.  

We also saw a group of about 12 Bottlenose dolphins off Hope Ranch, and two a bit later.

Great day, small crowd of about 20 passengers.


Marilyn Dannehower


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