<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt">Condor Express<div>7-19</div><div>Sightings</div><div>4 Blue Whales</div><div>2 Humpback whales (mom and calf)</div><div>100+ Common Dolphins spread out over the day</div><div>1 Rissos Dolphin</div><div>30+ Green passengers... </div><div><br></div><div>It was one of those days on a whale watch trip...</div><div><br></div><div>Gary Sullivan, Morgan Coffey (photo ID) and I set off with 140 (yes 140!) passengers under gray foggy skies. The day started out well, with a sighting of 30 or 40 common dolphins within sight of the harbor. A few more commons here and there as Captain Mat headed out for a spot at the shelf between Santa Rosa and San Miguel island. Dense fog, rolling seas, lots of sick passengers, and very cold air kept the crew busy with plastic bags, and serving coffee and hot
chocolate.</div><div><br></div><div>Capt Mat got a call from a research vessel (Pacific Storm) who had seen a Blue whale but then lost it in the fog. We headed farther west than I have ever been on the channel, where we searched, in ever rougher seas, but no luck. Turned back and started heading east. Passengers who weren't sick were grumpy. It was cold, not enough seats for everyone inside, (or outside for that matter) and we had many passengers who were asking why the captain didn't just call it off, since we weren't going to see anything in the fog, it was cold, so many sick people...etc. It was shaping up to be one of those trips you would rather forget about.</div><div><br></div><div>Mat was heading along the shelf, at about 1:00 pm, meaning to keep looking for awhile, and then head us over to Painted cave, when about 1/4 mile in front of the boat a spout appeared! It was a blue whale! We got a few looks, it was only breathing for
about 3 breaths, then going down. While we were waiting, off in the distance 2 more animals were spotted which turned out to be a mom and calf humpback! They came right to the boat, popped up on one side and then the other, gave us a great tail fluke right next to the boat. While they were down, off in the distance 2 more Blue whales could be seen heading our way, moving very fast... Got a few good looks of these, although from a bit of a distance, and then the Humps were back up. Momma hump did a great tail lob, which was missed by most of the passengers, who were busy watching the Blues! Another tail fluke right beside the boat had everyone oohing and aahing..</div><div><br></div><div>Suddenly, everyone was in a great mood, the visibility had improved somewhat (I'm sure the smiling faces on board had some kind of climatic effect..), seas had calmed down, and while we never saw the sun, it turned out to be a pretty good day. We
stayed late, and got back late, but no one seemed to mind...</div><div><br></div><div>Passengers from Germany, New Zealand, Arizona, and various California locations accompanied us on our unusual July trip....</div><div><br></div><div>Til next time...</div><div><div> </div>Karen Sullivan<div><br></div><div style="position:fixed"></div></div></div></body></html>