[CINC] tues july 9 whale watch islander

[Gail Turner Graham]

3000-4000 common dolphins
2 blues
15 humpback
30 offshore bottlenose dolphins

it was very hot in the ventura harbor but as we left the harbor the wind
picked up a lot and the crossing was rough.
a few sick passengers.  as we approached santa cruz island we crossed paths
with a small group of off shore dolphins, then we
saw 2 blues as well.  On the return, after we went into painted cave and
started back across
the channel we encountered a large group of birds, dolphins, sea lions
feeding and about 15 humpbacks.  we just stayed in
one place and admired the humpbacks, they did every whale behavior you can
think of-lunge feeding, breaching, pec slapping
tail lobbing and captain anthony said he saw one spy hop- and the boat was
surrounded.
after about 45 minutes a group of 3 humpbacks swam around the boat in a
complete circle!  amazing show!
the ride back was much smoother.
captain anthony did a great job as usual, supported by deedee, matt and
steve.
gail tg as the only naturalist on board
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