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Gray Whale Migration along the San Diego coast
Sunday, 01/14/2007
3 mother/calf pairs!!!
Mood:  special

I just returned home from the most amazing day on the water!  During the afternoon cruise, we spent time with *3* different mom/calf pairs!  These babies were beautiful! (Can't call them small...  ~15 feet in length!)  The water was like smooth glass.... The mothers were all traveling slowly; not showing flukes - but it provided great photo opportunities. 

It has been an unusual season so far; we are seeing soo many mom/ newborn calves heading south.

We shared the viewing with many other boats- including some sail boats.  San Diego Bay was hosting a Tall ship event; so we saw some beautiful tall ships.   

I had a couple of friends on board; it was thrilling to share this with them!


Posted by Leslie at 7:24 PM PST
Saturday, 01/13/2007
Sold out cruise- and 8 whales!

After a major storm; and a couple days of rough seas- I went out on the afternoon cruise.   The seas were pretty calm and provided some good viewing of the marine life.  We saw approximately 8 adult whales and hundreds of dolphins!  

The whales fluked, and showed arched backs.  The morning cruise reported seeing ~15 whales!! And they saw mating behaviors! Wow.

What was special about this day was the group of Girl Scouts that we had on board (~260!).  They were excited and it was nice to be able to share my love of the whales with them! 


Posted by Leslie at 7:41 PM PST
Saturday, 01/06/2007
A female with a calf!
Mood:  special

Along with ~100 passengers and one other "Whaler", I was blessed with the sighting of 4 whales this afternoon!   The boat went south toward the Islands and we came upon a beautiful adult Gray whale.  It was unique because it had a WHITE fluke!  I've posted the picture (original & zoomed)....  as proof! 

The 2nd whale was a bit smaller and traveling alone.  It kept changing direction and we soon decided to leave it.  It was a typical '6 minute' whale.

While we were heading back into the bay, we came upon an adult..and a passenger yelled out that there was a CALF swimming alongside 'mom'!  I didn't see it at first, but sure enough- after mom's blow, a little puff of water/air would follow....   the calf was quite small (maybe 10 ft long?).  I hope mom & calf make it to the lagoons safely.  

As soon as the Captain announced that a group of dolphins were sighted at the bow, the ship came alive with shreks and yells!   Everyone was so excited and cameras were out.  The group consisted of Common and Pacific White Sided. 

**The morning cruise was a huge success-- a total of 15 whales!!!  Wow!

... I'm already looking forward to my next trip out on Friday, the 12th.


Posted by Leslie at 6:30 PM PST
Updated: Sunday, 01/07/2007 1:34 PM PST
Thursday, 01/04/2007
No whales...

Since returning from my holiday travels, I have been out on 2 whale watch cruises (1/2 morning and 1/3 afternoon)... with no whale sightings!  What a bummer... 

But, whales HAVE been seen on other cruises.   Yesterday morning, Hornblower came upon 2 traveling pairs of Gray whales.  My next trip out will be on Saturday.  I have my fingers crossed. 


Posted by Leslie at 12:25 PM PST
Saturday, 12/23/2006
Breaching, oh my!
Mood:  incredulous

The Pacific Ocean treated us well today!  During the morning cruise, we were blessed to see both Gray whales and Pacific White Sided dolphins! 

The *1st* whale we came upon was intent on getting to Baja...  it was heading due south and we traveled along with it for ~30 minutes.

 The *2nd* whale surprised us with TWO breaches! This performance happened so fast, but it was beautiful. 

Later in the cruise, we came upon 1 or 2 additional gray whales... it was difficult to keep track of their whereabouts and these whales are not easily distinguishable. 

I was SOOOO tempted to stay for the afternoon trip, but decided to give my body a rest. 

 


Posted by Leslie at 3:44 PM PST
Updated: Thursday, 12/28/2006 3:55 PM PST
Wednesday, 12/20/2006
A beautiful day out on the Pacific Ocean

Waking up in time to catch the 8am train to San Diego was worth it....   The weather was beautiful today- perfect to be on a boat cruising on the Pacific Ocean!   It was a bit chilly, but the extra layers of clothes, scarf & gloves helped!   

Although no whales were sighted, we *did* get to see a few groups of Pacific White Sided dolphins...   which all the passengers LOVED!   The water was calm, the sun was shining, and the visibility was great for spotting whales.  I have an optimistic attitude.... I *will* see a whale (or 2) before I fly out on Sunday! 


Posted by Leslie at 6:00 PM PST
Sunday, 12/17/2006
From shore....
I spent ~ 1 hour  this morning searching for whales from the coast today...  with no luck.  The visibility was good, but I wasn't able to spot any whales. 

Posted by Leslie at 12:40 PM PST
Updated: Sunday, 12/17/2006 12:44 PM PST
Saturday, 12/16/2006
1st DAY OF THE SEASON
Mood:  happy

Today is the 1st day of Hornblower's 2006 Whale watching season... as the Gray whale migration south to Baja begins.....   

I wasn't blessed enough to be out on the water (my 1st cruise is Wednesday); but here is the summary...

written by Elisabeth:  

I was fortunate to be out on the first trip of the season with 'Barnacle' Bob, and new Whalers Andrea and Lyn F.
The weather was grey, and there were some terrific swells out on the ocean.  But we were excited and raring to go!
Capt. Eric received a tip that a whale was sighted off of Pt. Loma, not too long after we left the bay, so we headed near the kelp beds to take a look around and see if we could find it.  I don't know about the rest of the passengers, but that whale startled me, coming up off the starboard side, not too far from the boat.  It moved  along and right next to the side of the boat (we were facing West at this point), and then crossed behind us, heading South.  So we turned and followed behind. 
We never did see a fluke.  The whale was maybe 25 ft long, and seemed pretty young.  But we were very thrilled when the whale did 3 small breaches!  A few minutes later, it even did a breach that looked more like a barrel roll.  We were beside ourselves with joy over that!  But after following the whale a little further, it did 2 more breaches, that were so high, you could see where it's body was narrowing toward the tail!  I know a few passengers managed a photo or two.  What a terrific show stopper of a whale...we followed it until it was time to head back.
Surprisingly, we didn't see a single dolphin.
But we had stopped by the bait docks on the way out, where one young sea lion was flipping around & then would stop to watch us. I swear it was looking to see what our response was, because it did more tricks every time people shouted with joy. 
So it was a day for young marine mammals and some fun stunts!
I think this is going to be a fun season!  

Posted by Leslie at 1:30 PM PST
Updated: Sunday, 12/17/2006 9:00 PM PST

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