[CINC] Orcas off SCI -- Fw: Condor Express, Sat, 9/27

[L Charleboix]

I think this is the report that includes Orca sightings.


--- On Sun, 9/28/08, Bart Francis <bart at vnusinfo.com> wrote:

From: Bart Francis <bart at vnusinfo.com>
Subject: [CINC] Condor Express, Sat, 9/27
To: "NOAA Rain List" <channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org>
Date: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 11:17 AM

Sitings:  500 Common Dolphins

            4 Orcas


Despite a heavy ground fog stretching all the way from SB harbor to the islands and beyond, we headed toward the gap between SCI and SRI with about 35 passengers (plus several representatives of the American Cetacian Society (?) out of San Pedro) in search of Blues. Visibility was often less than a mile, but ¾ the way across we encountered a large pod of common dolphins doing their thing. Twenty minutes later, we almost ran into 2 orcas (one was the male with the floppy dorsal fin) possibly just finishing a meal below the surface. Two more females were soon spotted, and we stayed with them for about 45 minutes as they dove repeatedly and milled around the boat.

We weren’t so lucky in being able to spot any blues with
the bad visibility, so we headed over to the west end of SCI and made our way past the cliffs to Painted Cave before heading back to harbor. Not a very scenic trip due to the fog, but the passengers were pretty happy about the orcas.
 
Bart Francis

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