Condor Express, September 5, 2019
6 Humpbacks
2 Minke
Many Common Dolphin
Lovely day, moderate swell, visitors from England, Germany, Luxembourg,
Colombia, and across the US. Sea Landing and the launching ramp was a
mass of camera crews and rescue/recovery personnel. Captain Dave took a
long loop to the southeast, right across the oil rigs, and we sighted
our first group of 70-80 Common Dolphins. They delighted the crowd, as
usual, but none of us had ever seen the dolphins quite this animated.
There were numerous matings and upside-down displays, leaps out of the
water, etc.
A bit further on, still to the SE, we sighted two groups of humpbacks.
One pair stayed rather far away, but a group of four (including two very
large individuals) stayed near the boat and gave the crowd some great
looks from right nearby. Appeared to be feeding, sometimes with groups
of dolphins, but no lunges or breaches.
On the way back we had two brief looks at Minke whales, but as usual
they didn't stick around.
Bob Warner and Judy Oberlander were the naturalists on board, Bruce
Matthews the PID. Captain Dave, Second Captain Colton, and Crew Devin,
all extremely good at their jobs.
--
Robert Warner
Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
USA 93106
+1 805 2528433
robert.warner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
