Collegues,
This LA Chapter Report in the September American Cetacean Society SpyHopper
newsletter describes an amazing ASC chartered whale watch trip aboard the
Condor Express this August: Enjoy! Paul
LOS ANGELES
SPECIAL CHAPTER REPORT
Compiled by Alisa Schulman-Janiger
ACS/LA's Summertime Whale Watching Adventure: our 69 passengers enjoyed
multiple highlights during our nearly 9 hour trip on Saturday, August 14
(Condor Express Whale Watching), with 6 killer whales, 9 humpback whales, 3
minke whales, 5000+ long-beaked common dolphin, 1000+ short-beaked common
dolphin, pinnipeds, ocean sunfish,
and seabirds including a black-footed albatross and a brown booby! Our
3 minkes included 2 friendly whales (possible cow/calf) that went under us a
few times. Long-beaked common dolphin appeared throughout the day.
Our first humpbacks were Chompers and her calf, who displayed nursing behavior;
we also saw Chompers on our 2013 summer trip– chomping at the air in her unique
feeding style. We virtually ignored a solo humpback when a male sea lion began
feeding on a medium-sized ocean sunfish (Mola mola) next to our boat!
We watched 1,000+ short-beaked common dolphin: many leaping, and some
tail-walking! Sea lions, fur seals,
IMAGES BY ALISA SCHULMAN-JANIGER
Top: Bigg's transient matriarch CA39A, with offspring CA39A2 and calf CA39A4,
off San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara Channel in August on ACS/
LA Summertime Adventure, Condor Express.
Bottom Left: Curious minke whale takes a close look at us in the Santa Barbara
Channel in July at Island Packers. Bottom Right: Juvenile humpback whale.
acsonline.org
ACS Spyhopper September 2021 7
Los Angeles cont.
and elephant seals were in the rookeries on San Miguel Island. A breaching
whale turned out to be another humpback mom, with her calf.
And then...ORCAS: the first we have seen on any ACS/LA trip! Our deckhand
spotted distant dorsal fins first thought to be Risso's dolphin– but they were
actually 3 Bigg's transient killer whales. ACS/LA Board member, Gray Whale
Census Director, and orca expert Alisa Schulman-Janiger (California Killer
Whale Project) identified them as the CA39As: mom CA39A "Hopper" with two of
her three offspring; they were seen just 5 days earlier– over 200 miles away,
off Big Sur. We spent 50 minutes with them as they moved slowly near
us, and surfaced a distance away after 3-14 minute long dives. They closely
approached us three different times, diving under our bow.
Just before we headed back, they dove on our port bow again, and popped up on
our starboard bow. Three minutes later, 3 OTHER killer whales suddenly popped
up twice on our starboard side: CA39A1 (the "missing" daughter), with CA49C and
her calf CA49C1. The original 3 whales resurfaced on our port side
a minute later– and the "new" killer whales "vanished" as mysteriously as they
had appeared.
On the way in, we passed a huge feeding frenzy that included 4 humpbacks (one
breaching) and hundreds of long-beaked common dolphin. Big thanks to our guest
naturalists: Greg Sanders (Environmental Specialist for the US Navy, cetacean/
pinniped expert), Dave Pereksta (Avian Biologist at the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, renowned bird expert), and Rachel Rhodes (project scientist
at the Benioff Ocean Initiative, marine mammal conservationist leading the
newly launched Whale Safe project to help reduce ship strikes).
An outstanding, unforgettable ACS/LA Summertime Adventure!
