[CINC] Condor WW, 3/28/13

[John Kuizenga]

9:00 AM Trip:

Cancelled

12:00 PM Trip 

75 Common Dolphins
9 Gray Whales, in groups 2, 4 & 3

With Capt. Mike at the helm and Capt. Dave doing the narrative we headed
West, pausing briefly for the obligatory view of Sea Lions at the Buoy and
speaking of Pinnipeds, Capt Dave shared that yesterday he¹d seen a Steller
Sea Lion, which is definitely not an everyday occurrence this far south. No
sooner had we passed Santa Barbara Point and less than a half mile off the
coast we encountered our first sighting, a group of 75 Common Dolphins who
came out of nowhere. They circled us and we circled them and everyone had
goods looks, however no bow or wake riding was observed, as I suspect the
boat speed was insufficient to create pressure wakes. Getting a tip from the
DD we worked our way further West and found two Gray¹s moving at their
normal 3 kt. pace, both juveniles, one in the 25¹ range and the other
slightly larger at approx, 30¹. The smaller Gray was heavily barnacled on
the rostrum and the other had a large white patch on the left tail stock,
which was distinctive and being on PID duty, I imaged this uniqueness. After
30 minutes of keeping pace with this pair, we broke away and again headed
west as far a the Goleta Pier where we headed off the coast several miles
and started our slow return to the harbor when Capt Mike noted several blows
a few miles in front of us and within 400-500 yds of shore. At this point we
spotted numerous other blows with four grays in one group milling right in
front of us, rolling on their sides, showing flutes, breaching, spyhopping,
fluking, pretty much cavorting about, enjoying a little interlude before
getting back to business and their journey north. Another group of three
appeared but we maintain our position with the four and Captain Mike
mentioned, ³this was the best day I¹ve had since I arrived² and indeed these
were not the shy, stealth types. Spring break brought out many parents, with
their kids and a sprinkling of folks from out of the country for a total of
70 whale enthusiast.
While it was cloudy, with limited visibility (4-5 miles) there was little
wind and small swell. The northern migration is definitely in full swing!
All in all a very pleasant day on the briny deep and as always a joy to work
with fellow naturalist Rae Emmett!
Spring break brought out many parents with their kids and a sprinkling of
folks from out of the country and all seemed to be enjoying the day and
sightings.

John Kuizenga, PID  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.rain.org/pipermail/channel_islands_naturalist_corps/attachments/20130328/37b3bb2e/attachment.html>