“Lucky” the humpback whale makes a very close and friendly approach to say hello to its fan club.
Carpe diem
This August weather has been so fantastic it is hard to put into words. Suffice it to say that just being out on the Condor Express with balmy breezes, very clear blue water, and sunny skies is enough to make me forget anything else that may (or may not!) be going on in my life. It is a supreme stress reducer….being at peace with the environment. If you can toss in some epic cetacean sightings, well….it just doesn’t get any better. Captain Eric’ supreme visual powers, along with deck hand Augie and his friend Emily, spotted 5 different humpback whales, a few Minke whales, 2500 or more common dolphins, hundreds of California sea lions, loads of red necked phalaropes, black vented shearwaters and, by popular demand, the brown pelicans are coming back after a period of who-knows-where-they-went. Among the five humpback whales we had our 3 pals, Top Notch, Lucky and Rope plus two more…one was Rope’s pal. The whales were doing something down below the surface that resulted in bottom times between 5 and 7 minutes. Lucky actually surfaced directly in front of the bow in crystal clear water and you could see its entire body clearly. That was a magnificent sighting. Rope and her buddy were diving for 7 minutes then coming up for some semi-logging time. You may recall the this pair had done some long long logging over the past two or three days, so today was the most activity we’ve seen from the two. Of course logging is a great way to get outstanding looks. The two were parallel for most of the sighting, but towards the end Rope’s pal was very close to her but at a right angle and its head was almost touching Rope. Strange stuff.
Naturally the common dolphins and sea lions were all around the boat all day long. I’ll get these photos up on the web sometime Sunday. Don’t forget there is no public whale watching tomorrow, and you can go to www.acsonline.org to find out more about their 8-hour trip.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express