Summer Adventures Sightings Summary
from Whalewatcher v 34:1, the journal of the American Cetacean Society
The following is a reprint of an article as it appeared in a past issue of Whalewatcher.
We had the rare honor of having all three "Condor" captains aboard (Fred, Ron, Mat) with owner Fred doing most of the driving. In addition to the knowledgeable "Condor" crew, naturalists were Karyn Jones (marine mammals) and Bernardo Alps (marine birds).
Critters seen that day:
- 50 humpback whales
- 2 minke whales (each sighted only once)
- 5-8 Risso's dolphins
- 10-12 Pacific white-sided dolphins
- 1,000+ yearling California sea lions
- 1 elephant seal mid-channel
- 1 southern sea otter eating a crab near UCSB campus (Campus Point) on return trip
- 15,000 sooty shearwaters and a few pink-footeds
- Uncounted thousands of several species of gulls, brown pelicans, cormorants, alcids, and even one beautiful Franklin's gull in full breeding plumage, with its striking black cap and red bill, followed our stern wake for quite some time.
- There were two species of migrating warblers seen mid-channel (Townsend's and Wilson's warblers) circling the boat
At one point, one of the huge fish boils turned into what Captains Fred and Mat estimated to be a half-ton ball of sardines (anchovies?). It was pushed to the surface by a lunging humpback, and the sound that amount of fish made as it cascaded off the back of the surfacing whale was unbelievable. They said they had never seen anything like it, there was so much food in the water. From some of the photos, you can see the fish jumping out of the open mouths of the whales!
The above is a reprint of an article as it appeared in a past issue of Whalewatcher. The photos and layout have been changed however.
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