[CINC] June 2 Condor Express

[Kenneth A. Tatro]

Nice repot Chris,

Apologies not needed for the "long report."  As you said we are " ...  
not made of stone" and fun is an integral apart of what we do.

You got the data ticks up front, very cool, so have at it for the rest  
of your report.  It's good to see who came and how they, and you,  
experienced the trip.  I had fun being there with you.

Ken Tatro

On Jun 4, 2008, at 9:47 PM, Christopher Carlson wrote:

> Good evening fellow naturalists!
>
> Sorry for the delayed report guys! And sorry for the long entry; I  
> like to write and pretend to be funny a little too much.
>
> On Monday, the Condor Express headed out with around 25 passengers,  
> with Marty Flam and myself, Chris Carlson, as amateur, energized,  
> and carpooled naturalists. We encountered around:
>
> ~ 15 Humpback Whales
> ~ 25 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
> ~ 5 Sea Otters
>
> We left around 10 AM on the notion that it would be too windy to  
> head out to the islands. And indeed, we did not head out that deep.  
> Instead we meandered north along the coast while Captain Matt  
> narrated a nice history of some Santa Barbara landmarks. Most of the  
> passengers made a whale watching journey from the first time, with  
> people from Los Angeles, Georgia, Florida, England, and Wales! I  
> just had to make a delicious pun about coming from Wales to see the  
> whales. Everyone rolled their eyes, but I had a good time. :-)
>
> Seriously 15 minutes into the trip we spotted a spout and made a  
> good journey northwest, sighting around 15 or so individuals  
> humpback whales in total. One had a scar near the dorsal fin,  
> apparently from a net, while the one whale who really liked to show  
> its fluke had a very damaged tail, speculated from a orca attack.  
> But they all seemed to be swimming along just fine! We eventually  
> sighted just a few Pacific White-sided Dolphins, who had fun bow- 
> riding before they quickly disappeared. Pretty cool looking  
> creatures, I must say. We saw some kelp beds and managed to see a  
> few sea otters milling around in them, but we sped by there rather  
> quickly. Oh, and I must mention the vast amount of California Sea  
> Lions we saw just...everywhere! Particularly with the humpbacks.  
> There was this one point with five humpbacks near us, dozens of  
> California Sea Lions jumping around in their wake, and Sooty  
> Shearwaters in the hundreds flying high in the sky and along the  
> surface of the water. It was a prime day to witness some biodiversity!
>
> We traveled just a bit past Platform Holly and waved at a few of the  
> people aboard the rig. It's pretty cool to see close up! One little  
> boy really enjoyed it. And then he went back to enjoying soaking his  
> hand by dangling it off the boat as it sped off. I...I had to join  
> in for a bit of that! I'm not made of stone; it looked kinda fun!
>
> It was cloudy and kind of windy, but not terribly hot. A few of the  
> England people got seasick and had to spend the trip on the back of  
> the boat. But they managed to see a few Pacific White-sided Dolphins  
> between lurches, so hurray! A total loss was avoided!
>
> The people were all very nice. I managed to learn that residents of  
> Florida are now very concerned about boating habits around manatee  
> environments, which is good news for my favorite slow-moving, Gulf  
> of Mexico-residing sea cow. I also learned to my slight delight that  
> there is a "North Wales-South Wales" rivalry similar to Northern  
> California/Southern California culture wars. Jolly fun!
>
> Everyone seemed quite happy upon leaving the boat, and I got a few  
> high fives, handshakes, and hugs on the way off. One was slightly  
> put off because they thought they might see a beluga on the  
> trip...don't know where they got that idea! But I think they were  
> cured of that upon seeing those humpback whales less than 20 yards  
> from the boat. It really awes you!
>
> Another successful day for whale watchers around the world. What  
> more could a naturalist ask for?
>
> Chris Carlson
> chrisjamescarlson at gmail.com
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