August 9, 2025

Saturday August 9, 2025 Sunset

Our sunset trip began with overcast skies.  An incredibly busy Quivira Basin with all sorts of recreational boaters, SUP, sit on top kayaks, pontoons and some kind of bicycle on a paddle board.  Out beyond the Mission Bay Channel entrance we saw a couple of flying fish, a lot of pelicans in formation, a few scattered cormorants and several US Navy warships, including the ship M/V Ocean Valor. This is an offshore support vessel platform, using Military Sealift Command fleet experimentation, pertaining to weapon systems.  There was an escort of about 8 smaller vessels surrounding it.  

We came across a pod of some two to three hundred Long-beaked common dolphins.  

They were found about 5 nautical miles southwest of Cabrillo National Monument.  We could see the Hotel del Coronado in the background of the porpoising dolphins.  After making a turn-around close to the Mexican-American border, we came across two more pods of Common dolphins.  We estimated 2 pods of 300 and 1 pod of 200 for a grand total of 800 dolphins.  We did see a couple of Mola mola or ocean sunfish.  The lovely yellow-orange crepuscular rays, like shafts of light passing through rafters of an old bard, shone through the low clouds, adding a splash of color at sunset.  We hope that you tell others about our whale watching trips and we’ll see you soon!

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Olivia Trahan

Olivia is a senior pursuing her B.S. in Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and brings extensive experience in marine mammal research, stranding response and science communication/outreach. Olivia works with the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program back home, assisting in responses and necropsies of stranded marine mammals along the NC coast. Additionally, she is completing her thesis in the Ramirez Population & Food Web Ecology Lab, characterizing loggerhead sea turtle growth rates through aging their bones (like counting growth rings on a tree)! Most recently, she served as a Soundwatch Intern at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, WA, where she patrolled both U.S. and Canadian waters aboard a small research vessel, collecting data on vessel activity and killer whale behavior, conducting public outreach on and off the water, and educating boaters on how to reduce disturbances to the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. In her free time, Olivia enjoys wildlife photography, herping, crocheting, birding, hiking, drawing, and playing guitar. She is excited to bring her energy, field experience, and passion for conservation to the SDWW team as both Naturalist and Deckhand!
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