[CINC] CX Labor Day 9/2/2013

[Kevin Bailey]

Today I got to use the new Ipad mini - Carolyn and I "played" with it and it
looks as though we were only the 4th users. She let me enter data since she
has used the app on her phone a couple times. It is really cool and fun to
use. The app is very intuitive and easy to use. If you ever had any
reservation about recording data this makes it more like a game then a
chore. Granted it was a slow whale day so I'm not sure how it would be with
15 whale recordings and taking PID photos all at once. I had several entries
of dolphins and also 2 separate mola mola sightings.  It seems as though if
it got really busy that having the assistance of one of the other
naturalists would be a big help. One part I really liked was the comment
section where you can describe certain things that happen during that
sighting. The Ipad mini  is very slow to charge. It was plugged in the whole
day while using and still only went from 44% to 81% charge with 4 hours of
charging.

 

Today there were dolphins just about everywhere all day long. Multiple
feeding frenzies with each being a little different. Some had 300+ dolphins
and others had 50+ dolphins. We were never far from shore and could tell
where we were in relation to shore the whole time. Each frenzy had a
different variety of birds - most of the common sea birds like pelicans,
different gulls and cormorants,  but one frenzy had mostly elegant and least
terns. One frenzy was full of sea lions jumping and chasing fish. Like the
past few days the weather was stellar - one of the few days you did not need
a sweater. The water was super clear all day too - one frenzy you could see
the bait fish right next to the boat down maybe 30-40 feet. Unfortunately, a
humpback didn't pop up in the middle from below. We saw 2 Minke whales for
the day that were mixed in with one of the feeding frenzies of dolphin and
birds. We even searched the area the pair was seen yesterday to no luck. It
was an awesome day on the water with warm air, flat seas, and lots of
wildlife - just no blues or humpbacks. Passengers were varied as usual from
Europe to the weekenders from So. Cal. No one seemed disappointed since we
were always watching something but Capt. Dave did give everyone a whale
check. 

 

Kevin Bailey

Toni Bailey

Carolyn McCleskey - PID

 

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