This report is from the June 30, 1999 Trip .

BLUE WHALE TRIP REPORT For those who are wondering how the whale watching in the Santa Barbara Channel is shaping up so far, here is trip report from June 30. We encountered our first whale, a lone humpback, just over an hour into the trip. After following him for a while and getting id photos of his fluke we turned towards Santa Cruz Island again. A short while later we spotted a large herd of common dolphins that seemed to be heading towards some food source with great determination, they didn't even want to ride the bow of the Condor. Instead of feeling slighted, we just headed towards a nearby pod of Risso's dolphins. As we approached them we soon realized that there were quite a few Northern right whale dolphins among the Risso's. And they were more than happy to bow ride for us, making for great views since the water was glassy calm all day long. While we were playing with the dolphins we slowly made our way towards where the blue whales were feeding. There were some 20 of them spread out over a wide area. Balls of krill were twirling just below the surface and the blues would burst out of the water with their mouths wide open, sometimes on their sides, sometimes on their backs with their lower jaws towering like big tents. Sometimes they came up so close to the boat that we could see the krill jump above the surface in futile escape attempts just before being swallowed. The whales weren't the only ones interested in the tasty shrimp. There were schools of small bait fish after them as well as blue sharks and bat rays. The rays would also break the surface while feeding on the krill. And birds. Western gulls, Cassin's auklets, sooty and short-tailed shearwaters, brown pelicans and a brown booby, a pretty rare bird in California waters. After a good while we left the blues to head to the Painted Cave. On the way there we found a minke whale, who was also lunge feeding on krill, but did it much more gracefuly than the bigger blues. After entering the cave and looking at the nesting pigeon guillemots, Western gulls and barn swallows we returned to the feeding frenzy. Again, we came upon the Risso's dolphins first and soon thereafter the blue whales. Some of the Risso's were "rostrum riding" the blue whales, taking advantage of the pressure wave in front of the swimming giants. One of the blue whales had a following of two young California sea lions who would stay with him when he surfaced and wait for him when he dove. They were actually helping the photographers on the boat by giving away the area where the whale would come up. After watching a Risso's mother with a very small calf it was finally time to head back to Santa Barbara. On the way we encountered two more pods of common dolphins but didn't find any of the gray whales that one of the fishing boats in the area had announced over the radio. Sightings of several ocean sunfish, a harbor seal and a couple of elephant seals rounded out the list. Three species of rorqual, three species of dolphin, three species of pinnipeds, four species of fish and sixteen species of birds, and tons and tons of krill. Not a bad day on the water. Of course we will try to top this on July 31, and hopefully you can join us. Prices are __ for ACS members and __ for non-members, with a $5 discount for payments made early enough. This is a fundraiser for the two chapters sponsoring the trip who depend on the money raised by activities such as this. As much as we hope that you will join us on this trip, if the date is not convenient, you can always make your own arrangements through SeaLanding. The Condor goes out most days as long as the whales stay within reach of a day trip, which could easily be until September or even early October. As was stated at the top of this page, this a report from 1999's trip, b u t, if you would like to go on this years trip or would like more information about the ACS trip call Bernardo Alps at (310) 548-0966.