[CINC] WW CX 27Sept13

[Kenneth A. Tatro]

Hi folks, 

7 Humpbacks
5 Minkes
200 Common Dolphin (across several small pods)
15-20 Sea Lions in one Mob


Very small numbers  of:
Western Gulls
Brown Pelicans
Sooty Shearwaters

What a beautiful day it was on the waters of the Channel today!! Yes, yes, ... we do have many a beautiful day out there, but today seemed exceptional, ranking right up there with some of the best. Warm, little wind, calm seas with gentle swells, and a goodly amount of Cetaceans showing up.

Our first encounter with Cetacea, was east, past Carpinteria, a little less than five miles off shore. Here it was a cow/calf pair of Humpbacks, the younger being "Nick" the juvenile with the distinct nick in its dorsal fin. Mom was quite content to leave the youngster free to be between her and the boat. Perhaps it is well weened and ready to be sent out on its own, not too far away. Yet, they were logging, seemingly resting or sleeping, seriously so, for the longest time. They did nothing but hang out on the surface, occasionally blowing and not really diving much during this long, long break they were taking. The occasional dive they would take, they might pop up on the other side of the boat, and continue to just hang out on the surface, again, not doing much at all. This, of course, is what we call, "logging."

Yet the folks were fascinated, as were we, as none of us had seen this logging behavior go on so long. 

Later, after the nice long observe of the "loggers," we broke off and headed further east finding several very small pods of Common Dolphin along the way. Very soon, we came on another single adult Humpback, who seemed to be moving along, not too quickly, yet definitely. Another, Humpback off in the distance, we suspected might be seeking to hook up with our, now, new one, to do some cooperative feeding. Sure enough, that was the case, much to the delight o the folks, many of whom were on their first Whale Watch. Then we saw another to the port side and another at about one o'clock (forward, on our starboard side). Grand total, 6 Humpbacks for the day, Nice!! 

Yet, with in this latter set of sightings, we also were entertained by was amounted to several Minkes. Yep, these were the shy types, right? Well not along for too long, but not exactly shy either. As usual, they were fairly quick, darty and hard to predict their next move,, yet the photographers on board got many a good shot of the Minkes. Again a very nice treat for those after some unique pics of Cetacea. 

The Commons were often, but few, yet, as they always do, provided much delight for the folks as they chased the pressure wave, surfed the wake, or just zoomed by along side. Yep, some babies were along them.

On our return we saw our "loggers," up, awake and seemingly into a feeding mode.

Finally, "White Tail" showed up, our all white tailed Humpback, who hangs out in the same area most often, and gave us a very nice fluke wave good by, as we were headed back to port, ... nice in deed!!

Folks from Sweden, Germany, France, St Louis, MO, Michigan, South Carolina, and one couple came down all the way from Santa Barbara to ride the beautiful day into a great one, with many a sighting of Cetacea.

Captain Dave, was skipper today with great and informative narration, with Captain Eric and Tasha handling the crew and galley duties. With not many of the guests feeling woozy, they did their usual fin job of getting us out there, finding the whales, and safely back.

I was very fortunate to be riding with two beautiful young lady Naturalists in the form and presence of Carolyn McCleskey, who was handling the new iPad duties very well, and Debbie Shelly, chatting it up with the folks, showing pictures and sharing some of the toys. Always a pleasure, to be sure.    

Yours, 

Ken Tatro

	Gentle winds, mellow seas, and always,
	     		… a fresh breath of salty air, ... to ya.