[CINC] Orcas off of SCI

[KTL]

I was in the Channel en route to Santa Rosa and we heard nothing about orcas. We went on the south side of SCI in the morning and the north side in the afternoon.
Karen T-l
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Trent Barnhart 
  To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org 
  Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 4:02 PM
  Subject: [CINC] Orcas off of SCI


  Did anyone here of this sighting? Or did I just miss it?



  Thanks,

  Trent B



  Killer whales emerge off Santa Barbara

  9:57 AM, September 29, 2008

  Diane and Bernardo Alps, prominent members of the American Cetacean Society's Los Angeles chapter, sent Outposts the

  accompanying photos of orcas they encountered Saturday while aboard the Condor Express out of Santa Barbara.

  My response was one of disbelief. I too was in the Santa Barbara Channel on Saturday, en route to and, later, from Santa Cruz

  Island. I did not even see any dolphins, partly because of persistent fog.

  Orcas, or killer whales, are not commonly seen off Southern California. They are an apex predator and always a great discovery for

  marine mammal enthusiasts.

  Passengers aboard the Condor Express, despite limited visibility, were greeted by 800 common dolphins before the orca sighting

  off the west end of Santa Cruz Island.

  'We were traveling slow, looking for blue whales, when we spotted small blows up ahead,' Diane Alps reported. 'We were thrilled

  to discover they were orcas! Once we got closer, we noticed an oil slick. We also noticed that occasionally birds would mob an area

  where the orcas surfaced.

  'These signs indicated they had probably recently killed something -- most likely something small, by the size of the slick. They

  were playful, breaching several times and crossing under and around the boat.'

  It was quite the cozy unit: An adult male, two females and one juvenile, out on foray. The male, with a drooped-over dorsal fin, had

  been seen in the channel before.

  'We stayed with them for approximately an hour before heading off the see the Painted Cave and the rest of Santa Cruz Island,'

  Diane Alps said.

  Alas, all I saw was gray water and sky.

  --Pete Thomas

  Photos by Diane Alps



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