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<p class=MsoNormal>3 Blues Whales<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>2 Fin Whales<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>1 Minke Whale<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>200 + 800 Common Dolphins<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Many groups of birds<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>An occasional sea lion<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I was joined by Karen and Gary Sullivan today on the Condor
Express voyage which had us heading toward Anacapa Island where 3 blues were
seen yesterday. It was a different direction than the “normal”
blue or humpback fall season trip but like we say, this is the wild ocean west
and these animals do move. Today they were about 2 miles north of AI. We 1<sup>st</sup>
saw the blow in the distance, then a second blow. It was cow/calf pair. We
also saw a 3<sup>rd</sup> blow of a blue but it headed east and we tried to
stay with the original two. The down cycles were quite long, yet normal (6-10
min) but in that time frame they moved a lot. Each time they surfaced they were
¼ mile away so it was a bit of cat and mouse on the water today. We did get
some good views and were blessed with 2 blue whale flukes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Shortly after seeing the 1<sup>st</sup> two 2 blues were
also saw 2 fin whales that were travelling next to each other. They surfaced
as we were headed toward the blues and for a brief period we had 5 whales in
our circle of vision. But then the solo blue went its way and the 2 fins went
their way and we watched several breathing cycles of the pair of blues. The
mother blue had a very distinguishing look. It had a very distinctive
indentation on the top of the animal behind its head that was quite large and
then a large hump behind this indention. In talking with Dave, he said it was
probably not a ship strike because it appeared to be swimming and acting normal
and had a calf with it. It looked more like a deformity / birth defect. It
would be interesting to see what John Calambokidis has to say about this
animal.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I talked to a couple from LA who had seen The Kingdom of the
Blue Whale and wanted to come to Santa Barbara to see blue whales.
Interestingly enough, an hour later we saw 3 blue whales, but even more
interesting was that in the same area we saw John Calambokidis in his orange
jumpsuit in his skiff just like on TV. They were quite thrilled!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The past President of ACS at National level was onboard with
4 of her friends along with many from oversees. There were 2 groups of 2 from
Holland and when Karen introduced them to meet each other they discovered that
they live about 2 miles from each other. There were also visitors from Germany,
England (2 groups of 2 here too), Australia, and then the locals from Moorpark,
LA area and Bay area. Only 28 people today so everyone got plenty of attention
if they needed or wanted their own guide. The Australians told me that there
has never been a better time to go to Australia than now with the currency rate
today for Americans. The folks from southern Australia gave me tips about when
to travel there and we discussed places I had seen on Nat Geo that I had hoped
to see some day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Also making a Captain’s Appearance was a Minke that
Karen saw but I most others never saw. There were a total of close to 1000
Commons in 2 groups. The first was thin and scattered and maybe 200 and the
second group later in the day were equally scattered and everywhere –
lots of little tiny babies! The birds today were tricking us because we saw
many groups of Gulls, Pelicans and Shearwaters all mixed together just sitting
on the water but no cetaceans nearby and they didn’t appear to be feeding
but just hanging out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Until next time,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Kevin Bailey<o:p></o:p></p>
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