[CINC] March 17th Double Dolphin

[Tina Stephens]

9:00 am ~


600 Common Dolphin
Surf Scooters, Western Grebes, CA.Brown Pelicans,  Pelagic Cormorants, Western Gulls

Sea lions at buoy
Sea lions waving

Passengers loved the dolphins bow riding. Whales not found in a foggy sea, but all on board were very happy with their day on a calm ocean.  The sea lions as always were a big hit waving at passengers, again prompting the discussion about their need to thermo-regulate.


1:00 pm ~


600 Common Dolphin (same group no doubt)
4 Bottlenose Dolphin
1 ER

Same array of avian population
Sea lions clowning for us


Very interesting afternoon with two species of dolphin to compare and discuss differences.  Sea lions mixed in and one group of eight swimming together and clowning around for us.  They came over to the boat and had a nice visit which delighted everyone.  The sea and wind had picked up just a notch, but still great bird sitings and a lone ER on the way back to the harbor that most passengers were able to see, as well as the impressive blow two different times.  This guy was very shy!


Also, Captain Tyler showed me a picture of the otter he saw last week!  .50-.75 miles straight out from the lighthouse.  I tried to forward the picture and the info through the Rain list but it would not allow the email due to size limitations.  I suspect the picture was the problem.  Regardless, this is the first documented picture I have seen. While having been told by others that they have seen otters here, it was great to see this picture from a reliable source. 


Thank you to Captain Tyler and 1st Mate, Colton.  Another great day in the SB Channel, riding coastal.
Tina Stephens, naturalist aboard
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