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It was a beautiful morning on the Pacific Ocean... I spent it with 4 other Whalers and about 290 passengers! I met people from Indiana, L.A., Colorado...
We didn't find any whales, BUT - we enjoyed the show from ~500 common dolphins and were blessed to see ~10 Risso's dolphins. We were located south and had a great view of the Los Coronados Islands.
The approaching winter storm did not stop me from going out on the afternoon cruise! I guess I wasn't alone.. there were ~300 people on the boat!
It was *very* cold but the seas were nice. We came upon hundreds of Common dolphins that put on a spectacular show! Leaping out of the water- spinning around & splashing back to the water- it was thrilling!
The only whale we spotted was a Minke... small and difficult to see. Nevertheless, it was a whale!
~ The storm... it came in over the night and pounded us on Monday. The cruises were cancelled, no big surprise.
happyLast weekend (Saturday, 1/31/09):
I went out on both cruises .. and at the end of the day, we saw a total of 8 whales! It was a nice day on the water.
The big surprise happened at the end of the afternoon cruise. We came upon a trio of adult gray whales that were surrounded by various sailboats and a moter boat (~10). They clearly were not happy with the attention.
All of a sudden, the whales surfaced RIGHT NEXT TO the bow of the Adventure! Whoaaa... the captain immediately backed up the boat and we left the area.
Here's a moment from earlier in the day... we had great visibililty!
TODAY'S morning cruise:
... a 'typical' (but not common) winter storm day in San Diego didn't stop the Adventure Hornblower from going out in search of whales & dolphins. It was actually quite beautiful at sea - the dark clouds hanging over Point Loma & the city- seeing the rain showers coming down. The Coronados Islands were lit from the sunshine for awhile, and then covered in dark clouds. Amazing!
There were only 80 passengers, so plenty of rail space for everyone when we came upon 2 juvenile whales. The were the usual unpredictable 'teenagers'.... surfacing, then down for 10 minutes- surface again, fluke and only stay down for 3 minutes- only to show up on the other side of the boat. Regardless, I think everyone enjoyed seeing the show.
We also had some Common dolphins visit us to ride the bow waves. FUN! I have sea legs, but being out on the seas during a 'storm' sure is a workout. I collapsed for a long nap when I got home. I'm looking forward to next weekend!
We sighted 4 gray whales today. 2 were traveling together and gave us a good view.. consistently snorkeling and showing flukes. At one point, they surfaced very close to the ship... and we were able to hear the sound of the blows.
It was a beautiful day on the water and I met some nice people!
The Adventure was 'overtaken' by the Imperial County Girl Scouts this afternoon! It was a beautiful sunny day and everyone seemed to have a great time.
Not only did we see 5 Bottlenose dolphins in the bay- but once we got out to the ocean, we came upon ~200 Common dolphins. We also spent a little bit of time with 3 Gray whales. The whales were traveling together on their journey south. With the sunlight positioned just right- the blow of one of the whales showed a rainbow! So cool.
I spent the afternoon whale watching..... and it was a success! 1 GRAY whale and 1 FIN whale. We also came upon ~200 Common & Pacific White Sided dolphins w/ some sea lions joining in on the fun.
I talked with passengers visiting from Las Vegas, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Switzerland!
incredulousAlthough I wasn't fortunate to witness this amazing event... I had to share the following message by one of the Whalers because seeing a Humpback whale during our season is not common! Enjoy.
"We saw a megapod of common dolphins - always a delight. Then in the distance a few passengers spotted a blow towards the Los Coronados Islands. Captain Jeff headed that way and we were rewarded with the sight of 2 humpback whales. We saw multiple views of blows and flukes and a breach, tail slap along with rolling and beautiful views of those large fins. Everyone on the cruise (looked like almost a full boatload) got a good view of these wonderful whales." 12/29/08 pm cruise
surprisedThis morning's cruise was spectacular! Not only was it a beautiful day out on the Pacific ocean, but we got to see the 1st breach of the season! We sighted 2 adult gray whales... which seemed quite comfortable being around the boats - snorkeling & fluking...
As we were headed toward Point Loma, one of the whales BREACHED! Not just one breach though- 4 breaches! Incredible- I was so excited!!
- I met some nice people... including a family visiting from London, England and another family from Miami, Florida.
luckyI spent the afternoon on the 2nd cruise of the '08-09 season... and we were blessed with a sighting of a gray whale!
As you can see, the ocean & weather was kind to us...
happyOk, so I missed an entire season of blogging. Oh my! Apologies!
I promise to do better during the 2008-09 season. Speaking of which- the first whale cruise is December 20th. That doesn't mean, though- that I won't be able to see whales prior to that. I just came back from a walk to the cove in Solana Beach. From shore I spotted a female gray whale with a calf! I quickly walked home and grabbed my binoculars and was able to find them again & got a closer look. The calf fluked!
As you can imagine, I was excited!
