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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I am adding on to my report….We
should give the crew of the Condor Express a round of applause for stopping to
retrieve a very large bunch of gold and yellow balloons. It appears
that someone’s party balloon arch was somehow released and ended up in
the channel. Dave stopped the boat and Dennis did a magnificent job of
removing the balloons from the sea before they caused harm to some poor
unsuspecting marine animal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>The kids on the boat had a great
time assisting Dennis with popping the balloons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Toni Bailey
[mailto:diver24@cox.net] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, June 28, 2009 7:11 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> RAIN LIST (channel_islands_naturalist_corps@rain.org)<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Condor Express June 28, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Condor Express<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>June 28, 2009<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Here’s the score:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>2 small pods of common dolphins<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>1 very active blue whale<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Today was a magnificent day in the channel. Fellow
naturalists Ginny Fischer and Kevin Bailey on Photo ID were onboard. The
crew on the Condor Express today was Captain Dave, Dennis and
Amanda. We left Santa Barbara in the morning with overcast skies
and smooth seas. The approximately 70 passengers on board were
excited and looking forward to the trip. About 5 miles out of the harbor,
we saw our first small pod of about 50 common dolphins. We didn’t
stay with them too long since they weren’t overly interested in
us. Around halfway across the channel we came across a larger
pod of around 75 common dolphins. This group was much more
interested in playing around the boat, riding the bow wave and playing in the
wake of the boat. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Once we neared The Santa Rosa/Santa Cruz gap, we started
looking for the whales and soon we found a blue whale. This whale
was actively lunge feeding and seemed oblivious to the fact that we were
nearby. We witnessed over a dozen lunges very near the boat. The
krill was at the surface and this whale was taking full advantage of
it. The whale surfaced near the boat with its mouth wide open and
its ventral pleats fully expanded with water and krill. The whale would
then go just below the surface and we could see the bubbling water movement of
the whale squishing the water out of its mouth to trap the krill. The
whale would then surface to breathe several times in a row before lunge feeding
again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This was quite a show that we were all extremely fortunate
to see. This whale stayed near us for over an hour lunge feeding over and
over again….quite spectacular!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Thanks Captain Dave and the rest of the crew for finding
this very special site.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Toni Bailey<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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