[CINC] IPCO Island Adventure 9/6/13

[A ROSE MESSINA]

Sightings:
1200 Common Dolphins, one group of 400, another group of 800
1 Mother/calf humpback
3 Mola Mola

We encountered the first group of performing dolphins on our way to Anacapa.  Captain Jimmy did his usual great job of informing the passengers, with Steve giving additional info.  Dee Dee gave a wonderful running narrative about the island's history, geology, plants and animals as we went from Redwood Cove, east past Arch Rock to the south side of the island, continuing west to the north side of Santa Cruz.  We were headed toward Painted Cave when we encountered our second group of dolphins. Once again passengers were thrilled with the behavior of the dolphins.  After a stop to observe the Bald Eagle keeping watch for fish and posing for the cameras, we continued to Painted Cave. 

The venture into the cave was superb!  The water was calm, visibility great.  Dee Dee said it was the farthest she'd been into the cave on one of the IPCO boats.  

From there we headed toward home, but were diverted to observe a mother/calf humpback for over an hour.  They were feeding, but also seemed to have some time to play. Several times they closely approached the boat, requiring Jimmy to keep it in neutral.  The mother seemed to keep herself between the calf and the boat most of the time.  At one point the calf came out of the water for a full breach directly in front of the boat. It was the smallest humpback I've seen, but obviously healthy and taking lessons from mother.

Happy passengers were from Chicago, Washington D.C., Oregon, Washington State, Oxnard and other Southern California locations.

Thanks to Captain Jimmy, Dee Dee and Steve for a wonderful experience.

Rose Messina, Joanna Gutman
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