It was a gorgeous day spent on the Pacific Ocean! We had sunny skies, calm seas, great visibility and loads of Common dolphins! We set out to the NW and spotted a fast-moving pod of ~200 Long-beaked Common dolphins! They were racing north and then turned in toward the east. They slowed down once we caught up with them and we got the best looks! Many of them cruised straight up to us to ride the bow. We spotted many cow/calf pairs all around. We also saw some breach out of the water and leap in a coordinated effort! We set out to the west and spotted another pod of ~100 Long-beaked Common dolphins. They were feeding around diving birds. There were shearwaters, California Brown Pelicans, gulls, and terns! Along some of the current breaks was scattered kelp paddies with birds everywhere. The dolphins came over to hang out on the bow and in our wake!
Our Sunset trip was MAGICAL in so many ways! We had a whale! A BIG BALEEN WHALE!!!!! But we also had dolphins straight out of the jetties and they just kept coming! At least 500 long beaked common dolphins that escorted us all the way out past the drop off until we encountred a humpback whale! We’ve been waiting ( not so patiently) for the humpbacks to start making their way down from the north and that may just be starting to happen! To top it all off, the weather has cleared up, we had a stunning sunset and SUCH great visibility the entire trip.
Naturalist,
Vanessa & Alison
