We made some new dolphriends on our afternoon trip!
We left the Mission bay jetties and went west. After reaching the drop-off, we hooked it to the NW. We got word that a pod of ~30 Offshore bottlenose dolphins were cruising nearby by so we made a U-turn to catch up with them. They were really fun and energetic displaying many surface active behaviors. We watched them breach, tail-slap and cruise in our wake! It was likely a nursery pod as we saw many little ones hanging out next to mom. We left them behind and continued down to the south following the fathom curve. A huge pod of ~500 Long-beaked Common dolphins were racing from the south straight toward us! It was pretty exciting to see them surround the boat with great speed! Lots of calves sighted as well as feeding behaviors observed. There were hundreds of birds diving and picking up anchovies. It was a fun time, so hope you can join us for a tour soon!
We have one more trip to go and will update you soon!
What did the Fin whale say to the Humpback whale? – Oh nothing, they just waved! We absolutely krillllllleddd it today! We started off our trip by seeing a harbor seal, purple-striped jelly and plenty of California sea lions all found within Quivera Basin. Then, we travelled out west towards La Jolla and encountered ~10 offshore bottlenose dolphins which led us towards a MEGA pod of long-beaked common dolphins! We also saw lots of diving birds, such as California brown pelicans, elegant terns, and a few pink-footed shearwaters! The LB common dolphriends were being so playful as they swam alongside our boat. We also found a humpback whale and a fin whale! They were all hanging out in the same general area. The humpback whale gave us a show by surfacing right next to our port bow and lifting its tail flukes multiple times! We couldn’t have asked for a more magical time on the Pacific Ocean! Please join us tomorrow for more ocean fun.
Naturalist,
Vanessa & Melissa
