Condor Crew : Captain Dave, Colton, Jill
CINC volunteers: Sue Miller & John Brinker as Naturalists, Sally Eagle (PID)
9 Humpbacks
Several pods of Long Beaked Common Dolphins (total 1500+)
Hundreds of Short Beaked Common Dolphins (400+)
1 Elephant Seal
and sadly....3 mylar balloons in 3 different areas of the trip (retrieved of
course by the Condor Crew)
The day started calm, warm, and slightly overcast out at the islands but turned
out to be a postcard perfect day! Many guests from the cruise ship and states
across the U.S. Our first Humpback was spotted only 45 minutes into our trip
while heading toward the east end of SCI. So many others in the distance that
we were able to watch as we headed toward the islands. The passengers were
thrilled to have so many whales to see. A couple of lunge feedings and many,
many tail flukes. It's so nice for everyone to actually see the different
markings on the tail flukes. It's one thing for us as Naturalists to talk about
it, but it's another thing to see it for themselves. Many pods of dolphins
always doing their thing.
Made it to SCI after having several good and close sightings of Humpbacks.
Captain Dave took us to Painted Cave which is always a treat.
On our way back, we came across a pod of very entertaining Short Beaked Common
Dolphins and just barely off the starboard side one last Humpback to bid us
goodbye.
For all those who had their first whale watching trip...today set the bar
pretty high.
I can't imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon...
Until I board again,
Sue
