[CINC] Islander 7/10

[Dick Bellman]

The hard facts:  

*	Common dolphins (pods of 200, 1,000 and assorted small numbers)
*	Dall's Porpoise - 2
*	Humpbacks -  12
*	Blue Whales - 12
*	Undocumented nearby spouts -  at least 20 and probably more

 

Needless to say today was a great day aboard the Islander.  Captain Dave,
along with Anthony decided since there had been minimal sightings the past
few days to head as far west as possible along what Dave described as a
"coastal cruise."  He had noted some temperature changes quite a distance to
the west and thought that would create greater likelihood of whales being
present. As promised it was somewhat bumpy along the way.  We had minimal
sightings of the 200 common's and 2 Dall's.  We went all the way to the west
Santa Barbara channel weather buoy and then made a left turn, heading for
San Miguel.  Shortly thereafter the excitement began.  We had numerous
encounters with both blues and humpbacks as we headed towards Miguel.  In
the gap between San Miguel and Santa Rosa it went crazy.  Spouts were
virtually everywhere.  We had documented encounter after documented
encounter.  It was hard to keep up with the documentation because we were
having so many spouts.  People were delighted to have the Islander go all of
the way into Painted Cave.  Captains Dave and Anthony, along with Danielle
received a loud round of applause as we returned to Ventura Harbor.  It was
delightful to work with Ken Katro who was on PID.  It is always a pleasure
to work with Ken.  As busy as I was logging sightings you can imagine how
challenging it was for Ken to keep on top of the picture shooting.  Yes, it
was a great day.  

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