[CINC] Condor Express June 28, 2009...I forgot to mention something....

[Toni Bailey]

I am adding on to my report..We should give the crew of the Condor Express a
round of applause for stopping to retrieve a very large bunch of gold and
yellow balloons.   It appears that someone's party balloon arch was somehow
released and ended up in the channel.  Dave stopped the boat and Dennis did
a magnificent job of removing the balloons from the sea before they caused
harm to some poor unsuspecting marine animal.

The kids on the boat had a great time assisting Dennis with popping the
balloons.

 

 

From: Toni Bailey [mailto:diver24 at cox.net] 
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 7:11 PM
To: RAIN LIST (channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org)
Subject: Condor Express June 28, 2009

 

Condor Express

June 28, 2009

Here's the score:

2 small pods of common dolphins

1 very active blue whale

 

Today was a magnificent day in the channel.  Fellow naturalists Ginny
Fischer and Kevin Bailey on Photo ID were onboard.  The crew on the Condor
Express today was Captain Dave, Dennis and Amanda.   We left Santa Barbara
in the morning with overcast skies and smooth seas.   The approximately 70
passengers on board were excited and looking forward to the trip.  About 5
miles out of the harbor, we saw our first small pod of about 50 common
dolphins.  We didn't stay with them too long since they weren't overly
interested in us.    Around halfway across the channel we came across a
larger pod of around 75 common dolphins.   This group was much more
interested in playing around the boat, riding the bow wave and playing in
the wake of the boat.   

Once we neared The Santa Rosa/Santa Cruz gap, we started looking for the
whales and soon we found a blue whale.   This whale was actively lunge
feeding and seemed oblivious to the fact that we were nearby.  We witnessed
over a dozen lunges very near the boat.  The krill was at the surface and
this whale was taking full advantage of it.   The whale surfaced near the
boat with its mouth wide open and its ventral pleats fully expanded with
water and krill.  The whale would then go just below the surface and we
could see the bubbling water movement of the whale squishing the water out
of its mouth to trap the krill.  The whale would then surface to breathe
several times in a row before lunge feeding again.

This was quite a show that we were all extremely fortunate to see.  This
whale stayed near us for over an hour lunge feeding over and over
again..quite spectacular!

Thanks Captain Dave and the rest of the crew for finding this very special
site.

Toni Bailey

 

 

 

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