[CINC] Condor Express 10/13/08

[Maria G. Ornelas]

Hi Naturalists

Sightings:
Whales:
    one Humpback
    2 Blue

Others:
    Common dolphins (one large, one small pod)
    Sea lions
    Harbor seal
    Birds galore

We left a calm/sunny harbor with Captain Dave and crew at the helm.  
Thirty passengers, some from Germany, Turkey, Holland  Colorado,  
Goleta, fellow naturalist Tara Brown, photo ID? and myself. We  
encountered the Humpback 25 minutes later, as we were headed for SCI.   
An adult female, according to Dave. She seemed to be enjoying the sun,  
spending quite a bit of time on the surface. She was about 50 feet  
from the boat, we could hear her exhalation, and everyone was  
delighted, taking pictures, especially when she dove, showing-off her  
lovely fluke (3 times), we watched her for almost half hour. At 11:15,  
NW of SCI,  we came upon a feeding frenzy of Common Dolphins, sea  
lions, and birds galore. The largest flock of pelicans I had ever  
seen. There were many Western and Heermann's Gulls. There was also a  
large flock of small, black birds, similar to Black Oystercatchers but  
without the orange beak. We encountered o larger pod of Commons as we  
continued our search for Blue whales. At 11:45 we spotted our first  
one. We enjoyed her company for a few minutes until it dove,  
delighting us with its beautiful, massive fluke. This whale resurfaced  
15 minutes later, stayed on the surface of the water for 9 minutes,  
and dove again, showing its fluke again. We left and headed towards  
SCI. We did not go far, again, another Blue whale entertained us for a  
few minutes until it dove, fluke and all.

Finally, Captain Dave took the happy passengers along SCI to Painted  
Cave, where the excitement continued. The water was teeming with what  
Tara said may be anchovies. As we were leaving, we saw a pelican close  
by, feasting on this food source. What a  perfect Monday it turned out  
to be out in our beautiful SB channel.

Maria G. Ornelas
maria at rasnowpeak.com

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