Captain's Blog

Strong Start to Whale Migration

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:36:23 GMT

We started seeing a few gray whales earlier in this season than usual. While the Ocean Institute has been closed for the holidays and school break I've been spotting whales from home atop the bluffs at Capistrano Beach. Two days before Christmas about 9 AM I took a pause to procrastinate wrapping presents. It was a clear calm day. Scanning the coast I spotted two blows about three miles away. With binoculars I confirmed a pair of adult gray whales headed down the coast toward Mexico.

Since then conditions have been great here with calm seas and clear weather. I've personally seen several more southbound gray whales, some within 1/2 mile of shore. On my handneld ship-shore radio I've monitored other local commercial whalewatching boats that are seeing a consistent stream of southbound grays.

Members of the American Cetacian Society count the number of gray whales during the migration as they pass Palos Verdes, which is about 50 miles north of here near Los Angeles. They were cited on a TV news report earlier this week as stating so far this has been the largest gray whale migration count since 1965. They aren't sure why. Food source and climate change were speculated as possible causes. Then again we know the southbound parade splits at Point Conception with some going directly toward Mexico passing outside the Channel Islands, while the others hug the coast and pass within our viewing range. Some believe the presence of predators (like Orcas) at sea force the migration toward the coast, while others think experienced whales may prefer to avoid coastal noise and boat traffic, thereby staying out to sea.

We just don't know.

Sea Explorer will be back out at sea starting late next week. My first trip will be Sunday 15 January. I'll let you what it looks like from a closer view.

Happy New Year!!

Capt. Peter

Patches the Bottlenose Dolphin

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:34:00 GMT

Patches the Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins in our area come in two varieties:

The onshore or coastal bottlenose hang out near the shoreline and occasionally swim right into the harbor. I find them in small groups of about 6 – 10. Most times they are hunting and only pay the boat interest when they’re not chasing down fish.
The offshore bottlenose are about twice the size, are rarely found within a mile of shore and travel in larger groups of 20 – 50. These guys are very playful. Often I see them leaping clear out of the water when I’m still a mile away from them. They love to bow ride and surf in our wake.

Once in a while we find bottlenose palling around with their cousin risso dolphin. Rissos are also large but differ in coloration and habit. Rissos are nearly white, while bottlenose are dark gray. Bottlenose are playful, while rissos are very timid and avoid the boat.

We like to be able to identify individual dolphin, but it’s a challenge because to us they all look alike. The best we can do is find a scrape mark or characteristic fin shape to tell one from another.

However there’s one particular bottlenose dolphin we can easily identify. This one has sharply contrasting white patches all over him (her?) It looks like it might have been lurking under my ladder the last time I painted my living room white. I first heard about this particular dolphin about 3 years ago. Several commercial boat captains reported seeing it and we affectionately named it Patches because of it’s appearance.

Patches is reported in the Dana Point area a few times a year. Back on November 16^th River Springs Charter School came to us from Riverside, CA for a morning program including a cruise on Sea Explorer. During the cruise we were about2 ½ miles off the Dana Point headlands when we encountered a large pod or about 100 offshore bottlenose dolphins. While going through this large pod we spotted one that stood (floated?) out from the rest because of it’s remarkable coloration. We had found Patches for the first time since last spring!

Fortunately Lesa Hicks with River Spring Charter School got a great photo of Patches. She sent me a copy so I could share it with you. Note the white splotches, as well as the light pink coloration on the dorsal fin and nose:

I’ve seen several large pods of bottlenose since then, but Patches hasn’t been with them. We’re all watching for the next time he/she visits Dana Point again!

Capt. Peter

First Gray Whales of the Season!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:55:00 GMT

Today dawned bright and warm. All day the seas were calm and visibility was good.

We had four high school groups going out today, so it was a full schedule. On our first trip at 8 AM I saw the blow of a whale. It was about 1/2 mile ahead and headed down the coast. While the large blue and fin whales were in our area late this season I haven't seen them for about two weeks, so it seemed this would be a different species. Soon there was another blow, shorter than large whale blows and a different shape. As we got closer we discovered two gray whales. It was a "cow/calf pair." Frequently when we see c/c pairs this early in the migration it's a case of early birth on the way to the Sea of Cortez. But in this case it was a mom with a year old youngster.

Mom and junior lazied their way off the coast of Dana Point and past San Clemente on their way to Mexico. It was a good sign to see the first of the herd headed south. The rest will be passing here on their journey southward until about Valentine's Day. (Like us, thay have "early birds" and "late risers.")Then the migration will return north to Alaskan waters, passing here mid February into April. (Mabey they have to get home to do their income tax returns!)

Maybe we'll see this same mom and junior in a few months going the other way!

Capt. Peter

Humpback Whales Lobtailing

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:53:28 GMT

Last Sunday started out foggy. We broke into clearer skies 3 miles offshore. Large whales were still in the local waters. We followed 3 fin whales. They were less than a mile apart and seemed to be traveling together although not right next to each other.

After that we came across a small pod of offshore bottlenose dolphin. They are usually playful, but that afternoon they were lazing along like they were resting from a busy morning of fishing.

On the way back to the harbor we say huge splashes on the horizon. As we got closer we found the source - large adult humpback whale. It would breach out of the water, twist & fall back on it's side. As it hit the surface of the water it slapped the water with it's tail. This behavior is called "lobtailing," and is used to call to another whale. Sure enough before long another humpback came along and joined the first one.

The lobtailing lasted about 20 minutes and was a thrill for all to see!

Capt. Peter

Whales Galore!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:55:36 GMT

The blue whale season which usually ends late summer is still going on. For several days there has been a group of blue & fin whales about 4 miles off the coast. Today we had about 6 fin whales feeding in groups of 2 within a mile of each other. There also were about 6 blue whales in the area doing the same thing. A few times the blue whales fluked as they went down. At one point a fin whale lunged on the surface toward a source of food.

I'm told last Friday a number of fin & blue whales were lung feeding and rising to the surface with their enormous mouths wide open as they scooped up their food. There were 23 whales counted in the area that afternoon.

Conditions were perfect for viewing today, and we had a great time with passengers from Colorado, Michigan and Finland ... appropriate for watching fin whales!

Capt. Peter

Extended Red Tide

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:28:53 GMT

"Red tide" is a condition caused by an excess ("bloom") of tiny plants called phytoplankton in the water. Each one contains a dot of reddish brown pigment. This is what makes the water look reddish brown when there's a concentration of them. The water looks like tea in daylight, but at night the little plants glow like fireflies when touched. This means boat wakes glow like a green neon sign. And you can see glowing trails from litle bait fish as they swim alongside the boat.

A few weeks ago we had one of our monthly bioluminescence cruises. Normally we see some glowing plankton sparkles in our wake as part of the program. But this time as we came back to the harbor we saw something big glowing beneath the surface about 100 yards ahead. It was a pod of 5 bottlenose dolphin. We followed them for 20 minutes to the harbor entrance. They looked like glowing gostly apparitions lighting up the area under our bow.

Some patches of red tide are still out there. We'll have another bioluminesence cruise in a week and a half. I hope the red tide is still with us by then!

Capt. Peter

Blue Whales are Here!!

Sat, 14 May 2011 17:21:35 GMT

Wednesday marked the true start of the Dana Point Blue whale season, about one month earlier than usual. On Wednesday, three single whales and one cow/calf pair were sighted, for a total of 5 Blues. The difference between these and last week's sightings is that these 5 lingered in the area, milled around, and did some feeding, instead of simply passing through like the other two whales last week.

Three separate whales were sighted on Friday, the first at 8am by the Sea Explorer. This was a very docile whale, a 70 footer, feeding in the krill layer 300 feet down. During each resting cycle it took 8-10 breaths at the surface, allowing the students aboard to get a GREAT look!! When we ran out of time we went back to the dock, boarded new students, and went back to the whale again. It had barely moved and was still feeding. We did this a third time as well, leaving the whale at around 1:30 pm. But alas, our fourth group of students were not so lucky: With a full stomach, the Blue had headed up the coast and was reported by another boat off of North Laguna Beach. But we found thousands of common dolphin and a dozen Risso dolphin, and for these inland students the show could not have been better!!

With the around of food currently in our waters, we expect this to be an epic Cetacean summer!

Commons are Common

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:41:06 GMT

This weekend we had one cow/calf pair of gray whale pass northbound Sunday AM. Since then we've not seen gray whales, however common dolphin have been all over the place. In fact this morning there were about 300 common dolphin just outside the Dana Point harbor breakwater. During the day they moved 2 miles up the coast, or 2 miles down the coast. But all day they were nearby.

The common dolphin were truely common!!

Captain Peter

Whales Returning to Alaska

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:28:06 GMT

After a slow start to the gray whale migration in Dana Point we're now seeing a steady parade of whales going back north. Most of these are mother and baby combos. We call them "cow-calf pairs." Yesterday we had two pair pass about one mile offshore. Sunday we followed another pair in about the same place just outside the harbor entrance. the baby kept poking it's head up looking around. We call this "spy hopping." After a while the mom did the same, as though she wanted to see what the baby was so interested in.

Earlier in the season it seems most whales went further out to sea on their way south to the Sea of Cortez. I'm told the population there was normal. So it may be the reason we're seeing a more steady parade of whales now is the moms find it safer to bring the little ones closer to shore on the return trip to avoid Orcas and other predators that are in deeper waters.

Meantime we're enjoying the opportunity to show these gentle creatures to school students and the public.

Captain Peter

Gray Whale Sightings

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 18:15:18 GMT

We're seeing a regular flow of several gray whales a day migrating from Alaska to the Sea of Cortez. Last weekend we found a mother and newborn calf about 3 miles off the coast at San Onofre. The calf was only a few days old. It was still wrinkled and looked like Prune Face (for you Batman fans!) The calf was meandering all over so "mom" was trying to herd it in the right direction. We stayed a distance away, and when we left the whales were headed closer toward shore.

Yesterday we came across two juvenile (1-2 year old) grays a mile offshore at Monarch Beach. They were headed straight down the coast at a steady 3 knots.

I'm about to leave for this afternoon's cruise. The weather is sunny and calm, perfect for sightings ... let's hope there's something to see!

Capt. Peter

Wet End to 2010

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:26:00 GMT

After what seems like weeks of rain the sun is out. Our last program in 2010 was the Parade of Lights cruise. We participated in the annual parade despite light rain and moderate wind for that time of evening. But the festivities including appetizers, music by KSBR radio, and greetings from Santa made for a fun time.

Since then we've had periods of rain, heavy at times and for days on end. One result has been the runoff from the local watershed. Much of south Orange County drains into San Juan Creek which empties into Capistrano Bay just outside the harbor entrance at Doheny state beach. All year the creek has been mostly dry, and a sand berm has contained the trickle of runoff to the creek mouth.

Well, not any more! During the rains the creek ran several feet deep demolishing the berm and spewing mud and sediment into the bay a mile out to sea, and down the coast toward San Clemente. After the rain stopped a new delta island appeared at low tide. It delights the shore birds and they love to hang out on it and preen their feathers in the sun. What the birds find a blessing becomes the bane of the surfers. What used to be a favorite beach for catching a wave is now too shallow for waves to form.

However, mother nature has her way of putting things back the way she likes them so we'll have to watch while she re-distributes all the sediment that used to be a mountain or someone's garden soil upstream further out into deeper water.

Meantime it's January and we're back into swing with our school programs. First on the list just happens to be our watershed program where we teach elementary school kids about runoff and the impact on ocean water quality. The new San Juan Creek delta and all the debris on the beach makes for an excellent teaching aid.

Also this time of year we get to see the gray whales migrate as they pass Dana Point on the way from Alaska to the Sea of Cortez. I've already seen a few with binoculars from shore. We'll be out there on the ocean for a closer look starting next week.

Happy new year and stay tuned for more excitement as January unfolds!

Capt. Peter