Last weekend was the most bountiful sighting of whales since 2006.

 For whatever reason there was a bloom of krill. Krill are tiny creatures that look like shrimp, and are at the bottom of the food chain. Small fish feed on krill, larger fish feed on smaller fish, and mammals like dolphin and sea lions feed on the larger fish.

That makes sense. What is surprising is, as we go up in critter size we expect their food source to also be larger. Not so for some whales.

Whales are either filter feeder (baleen) or fish feeder (toothed.) The largest whale species, blue whales, are baleen feeders. They gulp down large volumes of water to trap tiny krill in large quantities.

So for us to see the largest creature on earth (blue whale,) we have to look for the smallest creatures (krill.) This weekend we had krill all over. What was amazing were the krill groupings. I don't know if they're pods, schools, or bunches, but there were redish brown  patches of ocean that looked like kelp paddies but were actually clumps (?) of krill. I don't know if i were a krill if I would find comfort in numbers by hanging out in one of these clumps, or if I'd feel safer swimming off on my own to be a smaller target. PS: Note to self: Do not come back in the next life as a krill!! 

There were also bait fish galore feeding on the krill.

This weekend there were about a dozen blue & fin whales off Dana Point feeding on the krill. Early this week the whales seem to have moved up the coast following the food source. Today we had a great view of a blue whale lazily chowing (filtering?) down on the abundant krill off Laguna Beach.

The rest of the whales must be around nearby. Care to join us in the search for the others?!

Capt. Peter

Whale sightings the past few weeks have been spotty. Seems they'll be in the area for days, then move up or down the coast, or disappear. We also have dolphin days like that, where either there are dolphin everywhere, or few to be found.

There is speculation on the reasons, but in general the consensus has to do with food sources. We've seen times where there are plenty of krill in the water. This seems to attract the baleen (filter feeder) whales like the blues. And when there are lots of bait fish in the water the dolphin are hanging around for a snack.

Water temperature may also play a role. This summer the seasonal marine layer overcast we get in June has extended into July and August. This helps keep the water temperature down and probably affects plankton production at the bottom of the food chain.

Last Sunday there was only one report of a blue whale near Newport Beach, about 14 miles north. I talked to several other boats searching from Laguna to Camp Pendleton all morning, and all we found were a few dolphin. Then on our afternoon trip son as we left the harbor we came across a fin whale 2 mile our just floating there and feeding lazily. How it got there without one of the boats spotting it earlier in the day mystifies me. My guess is there larger whales (fin and blue) go so fast and far underwater while traveling that it's hard to spot them. They may also "snorkel" while traveling in areas with boat traffic. It's when they stop to feed that they'tre on the surface for longer periods and create big spouts when they come up.

We had an early morning school program on Monday. We had fog with visibility about 200 yards. Using radar we ran our route out about a mile to get sediment and water samples. While there the fog bank parted and there was a fin whale on the surface 1/2 mile further out. We got a nice look at it, then went back into the fog bank to go home.

So never say never!!

Capt. Peter

Last Saturday there were 10 blue whales feeding in a group just off Dana Point. The sighting was so unusual it made the local paper (Orange County Register.)

On Sunday I heard other boats on the radio talking about multiple blue whale sightings (good news!) but they were out of our range up north at  Newport Beach (bad news!)

So this trip I decided to head directly out to sea, then go south based on an early morning report of a lone blue whale somewhere off the coast of San Clemente. We went out about 3 miles. Seas were calm. A beautiful day but nothing disturbing the ocean surface and no flocks of birds that might indicate dolphin in the area.

Just as I was about to turn south first mate Jay noticed a disturbance in the water 1/2 mile away. It was a small pod of common dolphin. They  normally travel in groups of 100 - 1000. What we had here were about 20. And they were feeding, which means they were intent on the next bite of food and not interested in playing with the boat. But sighting conditions were good so I traveled with the dolphin for a while for the passengers to get a good look.

Other than the few dolphin nearby, it looked like a watery desert out there. There just wasn't anything else to see. I then headed down the coast, per the original strategy.

About 2 miles later Jay spotted a whale blow off the port bow (left front!) We had stumbled upon the lone blue whale. There were two blessings here:

• We were the only boat around so the whale didn't have to contend with boat traffic, and
• It was a lot closer to home so we spent more time observing, rather than traveling.

To make matters better, this whale stayed in one spot so all I had to do was drift with engines idling. At one point the whale came up, turned toward the boat and passed just under the bow platform. We had a blue whale do the same thing a week ago Saturday. I wonder if this was the same whale ...??

Monday there was not a whale to be found within 15 miles. This morning (Tuesday) I had an orientation trip with school teachers. I found common dolphin in the early morning fog, but no whales. On the afternoon trip I had a group of young campers aboard. I found the dolphin from earlier still hanging around off Dana Point. I followed the group for 1/2 hour up the coast. As it came time to head back to port a crew member spotted a spout. Sure enough we had another blue whale. This one was traveling solo and headed south at 2 knots.

We were behind schedule, but a blue whale sighting is worth making an exception, so we tracked it for several series than returned to the dock.

This was a typical day for the crew, but an experience many of our little campers will never forget.

That's what keeps us going ...

Capt. Peter

After a strong early presence May & June, the blue whales left town in July. Maybe the fireworks displays chased them away. There was plenty of food for them floating around, so who knows why they chose greener pastures .. errrr greener waters!

Anyhow, last weekend our heros returned with a strong showing. On Saturday & Sunday we had multiple sightings morning and afternoon. These were all adult blue whales about the size of our boat (70'.) On one trip while drifting a whale approached from the front, came right under the bow, then passed alongside 20' away and rolled on it's side to look up at the passengers. (Was it on a "people safari?!") On another trip we had a blue whale languishing on the surface ... we call it "logging" ... and it stayed on the surface for long periods without going anywhere. Kind of like taking an afternoon nap, which I love to do at home in the late afternoon!

In addition we found a minke whale feeding off the Dana Point headlands, and numerous pods of common dolphin between San Clemente and Laguna Beach.

Oh yes, and we came across a fin whale two weeks ago 3 miles off the coast of Catalina Island.

So the sea life is teeming here. Who knows what the rest of the summer has to offer?? Stay tuned ... better yet, come with us!!!

Capt. Peter

Yesterday there were at least three adult blue whales off the coast of Dana Point. They were traveling up the coast at a steady 3.5 kts about 3 miles offshore. We followed one for nearly an hour. It came up regulary every 5-7 minutes, stayed on the surface for several leisurely breaths, then sounded. After one series of breaths our whale took a deep dive and displayed a huge tail fluke. It must be 20 feet across, which is the beam (width) of r/v Sea Explorer.

This was an exciting preview of our blue whale season. We will have our 5 hour Blue Whale Safari cruises twice a month on Saturday's through the summer.

Come join us and see these magnificant creatures!

This morning the pod of 7 orcas sighted last week were reported near Salt Creek Beach. They were cruising just outside the kelp line in about 8 fathoms (48 feet) of water. We tried to locate tham on our morning school program but couldn't find them despite excellent visibility and conditions.

Early afternoon our crew member Jay Burdick was out on his personal sailboat about 2 miles offshore. He spotted the orcas just south of Dana Point harbor. They were headed toward San Diego faster than Jay's boat would go. His max speed is 6.5 knots. By the time we got out in the area the orcas were beyond our range, probably off Camp Pendleton.

It's unusual for orcas to reamin in our waters. If they stick around we hope to get a closer look next time!

Capt. Peter

Last Sunday was Memorial Day Weekend, and a memorable day it was! About 3 miles offshore we spotted a large adult blue whale. It was lounging around in an area roughly defined by a circle 1/2 mile across. It came up about every 7-9 minutes to blow. Several times it fluked (showed it's tail) on the end of the breathing cycle.

After a half hour we headed down the coast in search of a large speadout group of common dolphin that had been seen earlier in the day. Two miles along our journey a marime mammal surfaced about 200 yards behind us. I got a quick glance at it in our wake. It was small for a whale, but large for a dolphin. Based on the tall thin dorsal fin sticking up I thought might be an orca (killer whale.) We rarely see them in our waters, and they travel in small pods. The next day there was a report of a pod of seven orcas off the coast of Dana Point. I believe the creature we saw on Sunday was a member of that pod and possible scouting the area for the group. Orcas are very protective, and the pod seen Monday had two calf (baby) orcas.

Continuing on as we headed toward Seal Rock in San Clemente we did locate about 100 common dolphin. They are always a treat for the families to see!

Capt. Peter

Another blue whale was sighted offshore from Laguna Beach. This indicates a good pre-season for whale observations off the Pacific coast.

We also got a good look at another humpback whale today. This is an adult. Earlier it was traveling down the coastline. But about 3 miles off Monarch Bay it stopped. It circled and appeared to be feeding. It remained in this area several hours and surfaced near the boat several times.

Capt. Peter

Having been freed from fishing gear entanglements on Wednesday, Lily the grey whale left the harbor looking a little peppier. However Lily stayed near the local beaches Thursday, and was last seen Thursday evening off San Clemente pier. Today, Friday, we again spotted Lily just outside the entrance to Dana Point harbor. Late afternoon Lily gave up the battle and washed up onto Doheny Beach at the state park.

Physical specimens were taken to Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla for lab analysis. Lily's remains were towed 10 miles offshore to return to nature.

Hundreds of people came to our horbor the past few days to watch this story unfold. I'm sure Lily will be remembered for a long time.

Capt. Peter

 

 It wasn’t long before the media heard about our visitor. Soon there were crowds of spectators lining the breakwater and shores, with several news helicopters hovering overhead reminiscent of the Mekong Delta. Boats of every size and people on paddleboards came out to see this unusual event.

 Close observation revealed some rope & lines tangled around the whale. Sea World in San Diego sent up a crew that specializes in whale disentanglement. On Wednesday they removed about 100 pounds of weights, floats and lines that may have come from a gill net in Mexico.

 Following the release the whale seemed to perk up and went out of the harbor. We hoped it would resume it’s northward migration to Alaskan waters. However dawn Thursday found our whale back inside the harbor. Eventually it wandered back outside and spent the day drifting just off the beach. By evening it had been last reported off the San Clemente pier, 4 miles south of Dana Point.

 Our whale has been named Lily, to rhyme with Willie, from the movie Free Willie. We think Lily is a mature whale based on the growth of barnacles and algae on its body. It also seems to have spinal curvature like osteoporosis in a human, which is indicative of a mature adult.

 Interestingly, about two weeks ago we heard marine radio broadcast from Coast Guard San Diego about a whale in their harbor near Shelter Island. That went on for several days. Then there was a sighting of a whale in Oceanside Harbor on 5 & 6 May. I’m wondering if these sightings were all the same whale working it’s way north before it pooped out and came into Dana Point harbor to regroup.

 For the moment it’s quiet. The helicopters and spectators are gone. But tomorrow is another day …

 Capt. Peter

 Capt. Peter

Last week we had a rare treat. A pair of humpback whales were frolicking just off the Dana Point coast. We believe they were a mom (cow) with a yearling (calf.)

We first encountered them about 1/2 mile off the Dana Point harbor breakwater. The whales approached the boat several times. At one point one of them rolled over as if to get a good look at us. Maybe they were on a "people watching" cruise!

We had to return to the harbor to put one school class ashore and board another class. When we got back outside the harbor the humpbacks had moved up the coastline a few miles just off Salt Creek Beach. They continued to entertain us. I hope we gave then the same joy!

Capt. Peter

With the advent of spring comes the end of the grey whale migration. Typically for the next few months local sightings would be dolphins until the blue whales arrive in June.

However this year we're experiencing an unusual presence of fin whales feeding just a few miles off our coast. There's been a lot of krill in the water. Fin whales are of the baleen (vs toothed) variety. So they feed on tiny critters like krill. I don't know why we've had so much krill this winter. The water temperature has been 58-60 degrees, which is normal for this time of year. But the abundance of krill seems to have attracted the fin whales.

Another seasonal change involves the pacific white sided dolphin. We only see them regularly in the winter. In spring when the swallows come back to Capistrano (4 miles up the road) the PWS dolphin pack their bags and head elsewhere. We still see a few now and then, but they're not as plentiful as a month ago. Wonder where they go??

The sea is full of mystery!!

Capt. Peter

Locally we have an annual whale festival to celebrate the grey whale migration from Alaska to the Sea of Cortez. The festival was held the last two weekends. It used to be scheduled mid-February. That's the "turn-around point" when we see the last of the south-bounders, and the first of the north-bounders returning. Due to nasty weather in February a few years ago the festival was shifted to early March.

 The last few weeks our weather has been rainy and windy. This has made it difficult to track whales and dolphin. Interestingly the sightings we've had showed th presence of a few fin whales feeding nearby, and a skimpy grey whale migration going past our harbor. Yesterday and today the weather was more "normal," i.e. gorgeous!

With better weather comes great sighting conditions. Sunday we had three cruises, and saw grey whales and dolphin on all cruises. The grey whale sightings were all pairs. Some were cow/calf (mother/child) pairs, but several were also adult pairs.

We did see one southbound grey whale. It was clearly late in the migration and must have been hoping to catch the party in Mexico before it ended!

We had a great view of a fin whale feeding 3 miles off Dana Point. There's a lot of bait fish and krill in the water which must be keeping the whales in the area. I don't recall seeing fin whales here this late in the year in the past.

Our local pod of pacific white-sided dolphin are still around, although they're getting scattered and hard to find.

This morning before we left the dock we spotted a local coastal bottlenose dolphin in the anchorage next to our dock. It's unusual to see any marine mammals this far up the harbor. 

We never what we're going to be treated to!!

Capt. Peter

2010 marks the 6th year of the Morning Breeze Cruise. Wow, has it been that long?!

What can be more enjoyable than learning about the wonders of our ocean to the accompaniment of an eclectic blend of instrumental music? In 2004 we came up with a great partnership with Saddleback College radio station KSBR. Sea Explorer provides the mobile platform to take us to the sea life, and KSBR provides enjoyable music between sightings.

KSBR provides a disc jockey, DJ Thotnton, affectionately known as "DJ the dj," who plays cds specifically selected to blend with our oceanic experience. DJ also broadcasts weekly on KSBR. Her program is called The Morning Breeze. That's where we came up with the title "Morning Breeze Cruise (MBC)" as a blend of her radio program with our ocean discovery program.

As time went on the MBC became known in the music world and now DJ also arranges for a guest artist aboard who mixes with the passengers and gives a short performance during the cruise.

The MBC typically runs on the 3rd Sunday of the month, 10:30AM - noon. We're kicking off the 2010 season on February 21. Our guest artist this month is John Luttrell. John has been with us several times. You can see more about him at http://www.ottersong.com/ and learn more about KSBR at http://www.ksbr.net/

Note the MBC includes coffee and hot chocolate provided by Coffee Importer and appetizers by What A Dish. All this is donated, as is the time dedicated by DJ and her guest artist.

Come join us for a memorable time!

Capt. Peter

Well, sort of calm. After a week of high wind and rain, on Sunday the seas were 4-6' and the wind down to 12 knots. Whitecaps made locating dolphin a challenge. Another prime indicator of dolphin presence is a flock of birds feeding and diving. But most of the birds were hunkered down on the breakwater as if trying to keep dry and warm.

As luck would have it we encountered a southbound gray whale about a mile outside the harbor entrance. This is the same general area we've seen gray whales the past two weeks, and in years gone by as well.

We also did a search for dolphin to no avail, so we went in the lee of the breakwater to gather sediment and plankton samples. Our passengers sorted through the samples as we ended with a harbor cruise in calm waters.

Other sightings this week include a fin whale. It was seen off San Clemente last Thursday, and again Sunday near San Onofre. The coming week should be calmer, so let's hope for better conditions.

Capt. Peter

This past week we saw a variety of dolphin species on a regular basis. Some of the pods were unusual in size. Common dolphin typically travel in groups of 50 - 500. Satuday & Sunday the pod we found had 5. Risso pods normally consist of 10 - 15 individuals. Saturday we found a pod of 30. We also saw small pods of pacific whitesided and bottlenose dolphin. Saturday we found one adult gray whale migrating south about a mile off Dana Point harbor.

Today I heard a radio news report that the "giant" humbolt squid had returned to the Orange County coast, and fishermen were getting squid up to 50 lbs. Sure enough tonight as I scanned the waters off Dana Point I saw about 15 brightly lit squid fishing boats 2 - 4 miles offshore.

As a note of interest, on Friday during a bottom sampling exercise we detected a large round object on the sea floor in about 30 fathoms (180 feet) depth. It looks to be about 15-20 feet tall and wide. In the near furure we hope to get a closer look using our sidescan sonar and ROV (remote operating vehicle.)

Stay tuned ...

Capt. Peter

The past week was storm filled with lots of wind and rain.
Consequently we were harbor-bound for the week. Here are photos of the waves coming over the breakwater.

Sunday was a nice day with a 3 foot residual swell. We found one adult gray whale. It was going along the same route as the young whale we saw a week ago, except this one was on a more predictable course headed south.

We may get another shower mid-week, but aside from that the forecast looks good for a while.

Capt. Peter

Today was our first cruise in the new year. Shortly outside the harbor we found a small pod of pacific whitesided dolphin feeding on a school of fish. There were a few sea lions on the group and a flock of birds above. These may be the same PWS we saw in November when the arrived for the winter season. Shown here is a photo taken by Joelle Bonus who was crewing today.

About an hour later in the same general area we came across a small grey whale. It looked like a yearling in that it had significant barnacle growth on it. It meandered around outside the harbor at least a half hour. At one point it surfaced and rolled on it's side like it was checking out the cloud cover, then it slowly submerged.

I hope to have more sightings to report in the coming weeks as we get our programs going now that the holidays are behind us.

Capt. Peter

 The PWS species are small, about the size of common dolphin. They travel in much smaller pods. A typical group will be 8 – 20 individuals. They have distinctive white markings on dorsal and side, from whence comes their name:

Normally this time of year we see PWS in small groups feeding a mile or so offshore. They hang around until late winter, then move along for the summer. We don’t know where they go for the summer. This year we seem to have a family of about 15 hanging around off Dana Point and San Clemente. I’ve seen them most mornings around 8 – 10 AM less than a mile off Dana Point.

It will be interesting to see how long they remain in the area.

Capt. Peter

Q: How is it possible for a "common" dolphin not to be common?

A: When it's a rare albino!

In the past 15 years searching for dolphin I've only heard about an albino dolphin several times, and seen one once. It was an adult common dolphin that was a member of a large pod. The albino adult showed up briefly, then would disappear, assumedly having moved to happier feeding grounds elsewhere. Then it would show up again locally months later. I've not heard of another sighting in the past year.

Last week we found a pod of several hundred common dolphin about 3 miles off San Clemente. It ws a community pod with lots of families including what we call "cow/calf pairs," which are moms and babies. As we observed this large group traveling along in the clear Pacific waters there was a flash of white. Looking closely we saw a football sized white dolphin keeping pace with it's traditional two-toned mom. It clung to her side, matching every move ... up for air, submerge, porpoise, back down again, zig and zag among the other dolphin. We observed this unique pair a good 5 minutes before we broke off and went our way.

We see so many dolphin and whales on a regular basis that I don't bring my camera any more. But after this experience I think I'll start packing it again so I can share these wonderful discoveries with you!

Capt. Peter 

   Blue Whale sightings the past 7 days have set a new standard, the best since the miracle August of 2006.  August 13 and 14 were unreal, with about 10 different Blues roaming the waters off of Dana Point, only 3 miles out.  Some came right alongside the Sea Explorer to take a close look at us.  One cow/calf pair glided directly under our drifting boat, barely deep enough to clear our keel.  Tuesday and Wednesday (today), the Blues were "logging" on the surface during their "up cycles".  "Logging" means floating without paddling, so that from a distance they resemble logs afloat on the ocean, as seen in the timber country.  Two other whales came within 20 feet of the boat to check us out.

   These Blues have been feeding, since they stay down 8-10 minutes, then surface in the same spot over and over.  When feeding, we call this their "down cycle".  The "up cycle" is at the surface when they saturate their lungs.  This ranges from 4-20 breaths, depending on the needs of the individual whale.  Sometimes they paddle slowly, breathing every 15 seconds; but the best show is when they "log" during their up cycle, allowing us to get really close.

   It is August 19th, and the Blues are showing no sign of thinning out....we have high hopes for September!!

                                                     Mike Bursk

   Our first offshore Marine Mammal cruise was quite a success, although it was neither offshore nor filled with Blue whales.  To the contrary, our success was nearshore and filled with Fin whales, the two largest ever seen from the Sea Explorer. 

   The trip began with a long journey to the Laussen Seamount, where fishermen had reported Blue sightings during the week.  After 90 minutes of travel and 45 minutes of searching, we came up empty....well, almost.  An entertaining pod of about 500 common dolphin escorted us as we headed back towards shore.  As we said goodbye to the dolphin, a radio call alerted us to 3 Fin whales, 2 miles off North Laguna.  This is unusually close to shore.  Using GPS, we located them outside Newport Harbor, and spent the next hour alongside them.  What a show!!  One of them seemed somewhat curious about us, swimming slowly along the surface and allowing us to put our bow nearly over it's flukes.  Both of these whales were at least 60 feet long, and from this position we could see every detail of their bodies, including their white chins as they breathed.

   Fin whales are often curious about boats, and this was a near-perfect setting leading up to a "friendly whale" encounter, except for one flaw:  We were SO close to Newport harbor that the normal Saturday boat traffic kept distracting the whales.  If we had been 15 miles offshore, where we usually see them, who knows what might have happened.  But as it was, they finally sped up, heading West, and we said our goodbyes.  This trip whet our appetites for the big Rorquals, and we can't wait for our next Safari.

We left the dock Sunday morning hoping to find dolphin somewhere along the coast. As it happened we were still in the harbor channel and came across two bottlenose dolphin. When we got closer we discovered one was in the midst of giving birth! The second dolphin seemed to be escorting her. Maybe it was protecting the new mother and baby. We quitely slipped away to give them peace. As we rounded the breakwater we discovered four more bottlenose dolphin hanging around just outside the harbor ... kind of like they were pacing around the waiting room. Reminded me of when my kids were born! Dolphin are social creatures, so I suspect this was an entire family event going on.

On another note, the first blue whale of the season was sighted a few miles offshore on Friday.

Truly it must be spring!

Capt. Peter

Where do they go?!

It's wierd. Sometimes the sea is teeming with marine mammals, other times there's not a soul in town.

A few weeks ago we had two cruises on one day. On the first trip we were barely out of the harbor when we saw two large blows close aboard. We'd found two adult gray whales migrating south within paddleboard distance of the breakwater.  On the next cruise we scoured the sea from San Clemente to Laguna Beach and went several miles offshore with no sighting. Just as we were about to give up and head for the barn a gray whale popped up close to us. We had a great view of this "yearling" which was probably born in the Sea of Cortez last year, and making it's first solo trip from Alaska back to it's origin. How do they know where to go? I barely remember where Hackensack is!

Later in the month we had a pod of about 1,000 dolphin hanging around about 3 miles outside the harbor. It was great knowing they were out there so we could bring our terrestrial mammals (passengers) out there to see their marine mammal cousins. But by the next cruise the dolphin dissapeared. Best we could do was find a small group (10-15) of dolphin on the surface. They weren't interested in playing with us and would go down for 6-8 minutes (a long time in the dolphin world.) We think they were feeding on squid that were down deep, which is why the dolphin stayed down so long. (Remind me not to come back as a squid in the next life!)

So the mystery remains. Be it whale or dolphin, where are they?! Weeeeeeell, come join us and find out. There's never a dull moment!!

Capt. Peter

A long time ago I discovered a sensual compatibility between soothing music and being at sea. This effect was amplified whenever we got into a pod of dolphin. Can you imagine being on the bounding main surrounded by dolphin with fantastic music in the background?!

The source of my music was a local community college radio station KSBR. Long story short, Ocean Institute and KSBR now jointly sponsor my favorite monthly event, the Morning Breeze Cruise. KSBR personality DJ (yes, she's really a "DJ") broadcasts a wonderful program on weekend mornings (88.5FM.) DJ's program is called The Morning Breeze. Once a month DJ packs her gear and comes to the Sea Explorer to play music while we search for dolphin and/or whales.

 DJ used to play recorded music on the boat during the cruise. Over time (about 6 years) musicians have joined in the experience and now we have a live music performance on the boat during our cruise. Last weekend our guest was Denise Young . We saw common dolphin, and Denise gave a great performance. Photos of her cruise with us from a year ago are on her website at: http://www.deniseyoung.com/photos.html 

DJ has guest artists lined up for the rest of the year, normally the 3rd Sunday on the month at 10 AM. As the Doobie Brothers would say, come "listen to the music" while we search for marine mammals off the Orange County coast.

Capt. Peter

On behalf of (GEWEX) Scientific Steering Group,  I want to thank members of the Ocean Institute staff for organizing a fantastic tour of the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, CA and marine mammal cruise.

This Sunday was a windy and choppy day, thy type of day you don't exepct to see anything but spray and waves. But we found a playful group of Pacific Witeside Dolphin (PWS) 3 miles off San Clemente pier. They were very playful, which helped us follow them in 4 foot seas since the wind had picked up.

On the way back to the harbor we ecountered a juvenile gray whale near the harbor rock jetty. It was probably born in the Sea of Cortez last year, and making it's way alone back to it's home digs. It's hard to imagine how a creature can follow "mom" to Alaska from Mexico, then return to the old neighborhood 3 thousand miles away a year later on his/her own. They don't have GPS, so it must have been the influence of a super mom that made the trek possible!

Yesterday (Sunday) soon after leaving the harbor we spotted a patch of white water spashes 3 miles off the coast. It could have been a small fleet of wave-runners, but to our delight turned out to be a pod of about 500 common dolphin. As we approached the pod several "scouts" broke from the group to intercept and welcome us. They may have been checking us out because there were numerous cow/calf (mom & baby) pairs in the pod, and the adults are very protective of their young.

Once we were accepted the pod swam alongside while feeding, and rode the bow wave. The pod had been lazing along, then an amazing thing happened. As if on queue the entire pod took off at full speed, faster than the boat can go. They sped as one in perfect formation for about 100 yards, then screeched to a halt (hard to do in the water!) When we caught up with them they were feeding on a group of bait they'd found.

During this time we had deployed our acoustic array and were towing it behind the boat. We could hear the dolphin echo-locating. They send out sound pulses much like sonar to locate objects, including each other, underwater. It sounds like sharp clicks. They also have a sort of language that sounds like high pitched whistles.

With us on this trip was a couple vacationing from South Carolina. They marveled at the size of our dolphin pod. Aparently off their coast a pod of 10 dolphin is a large find!

On the way back we stopped at Seal Rock, just off the beach by the San Clemente pier. It's a great place to view sea lions lounging in the sun. At low tide we can see bright red and orange sea stars at the water's edge.

It was a beautiful warm and calm afternoon once again!

Capt. Peter

While the rest of the nation is freezing we're enjoying beautiful weather with "Santa Ana conditions." It's been so clear you can see San Clemente Island about 50 miles off shore. If the world were flat we'd be seeing China!

On Sunday's public Marine Mammal Expedition we didn't see China, however we did find dolphin. There was a nice pod of 15 pacific whiteside dolphin about a mile off Capistrano Beach. They were feeding on bait fish most of the day. Mixed in the group was one "dolphin wannabe" sea lion who mimicked their porpoising behavior.  We also found a large pod of about 500 common dolphin 3 miles off the San Clemente pier. The trip concluded with a visit to Seal Rock in San Clemente. This is a great spot to view sea lions, harbor seals and coastal birds in their native habitat.

Today was Monday, so we were back to educational cruises with school classes. Our mission was to take 6th graders out to three sampling sites to test the sea floor, water clarity and plankton content. On the way back into the harbor this afternoon a pod of 10 coastal bottlenose dolphin discovered us. They must have been ready to play after a day of feasting, and figured we were just a big rubber duckie in their bath tub. They rode our bow wave all the way back to the harbor entrance. Just as we entered the harbor two gray whales surfaced behind us on their  migration to warmer waters in the sea of Cortez.  

You never know what you're going to find on the ocean. And it's amazing what we sometimes find right here off the coast of Dana Point. The gray whale migration has begun, so stay tuned ... or better yet come join us and see first hand!! 

Capt. Peter

This past week out on the water we had the pleasure of coming into contact with one of the most beautiful dolphins, Pacific White-Sided or Pac-Whites is what we like to call them. We don't get this opportunity year round and only see them usually as the water temperature starts to dip down. They came right over to the boat and started bow riding. A couple would flip and turn to catch a glimpse of us on the boat. The day before this was also a treat! We saw out of the corner of our eyes a whales fluke! This was a fluke of a whale that travels right past Dana Point every year, the Grey Whale!! These travelers were a little early in the season so we thought, but people have been seeing them here and there over the past week. Winter is here!

This is a little video I put together:


-Ashleigh

What a great day to be out on the water.  Come and join us soon.

     On Saturday, September 20, the RV Sea Explorer set out to survey our coastal bird population, with 40 members of the Audobon Society aboard.  This is an unusual trip for the staff, as birds are seldom the focus of our day, although they play an integral part in our local cycle.  Most crew are familiar with shorebirds, but less familiar with the offshore pelagic birds which spend most of their time at sea.  Most of us recognize "terns", and "gulls", but cannot identify the many types of each within these groups.  Just open a birdbook and check out the dozens of different terns.

     So with calm seas and forty sets of binoculars, we saw flocks of different seabirds, including a rare black tern, rhinocerus auklet, Sabine's gull, sooty shearwaters and pink shearwaters.  These last will eat large zooplankton at the ocean's surface, and will also dive down to twenty feet to eat krill; the same food as the Blue Whales eat.  Think about that:  A 12-ounce bird eating the same food as a 70 ton whale, just less of it.  Go figure.  And sure enough, we capped our day with an amazing encounter with a feeding Blue Whale.  A true voyage through the cycle of life at sea.