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Gray Whale Migration along the San Diego coast
Thursday, 11/27/2008
First sighting of a gray whale this season!
Mood:  happy

Ok, 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!   


Posted by Leslie at 4:13 PM PST
Updated: Thursday, 11/27/2008 4:23 PM PST
Saturday, 11/17/2007
COUNTDOWN TO THE 2007 Season Begins!
Mood:  special

The 2007 Whale Watch season begins on December 15th!  I've been attending the volunteer training and have gotten a chance to meet the new "Whalers".  I have a feeling it is going to be another FUN season. 

I'm looking forward to sharing the excitement and wonder of the sightings with everyone.   
  


Posted by Leslie at 1:36 PM PST
Updated: Saturday, 11/17/2007 1:44 PM PST
Sunday, 04/15/2007
End of the '06-07 Gray Whale Migration
Mood:  incredulous

Today was the last day of the whale watch season with Hornblower... I wish all the gray whales a safe journey to the cold waters of the Bering & Chukchi seas - and patiently wait for their next journey south past San Diego.   It was a wonderful season - filled with alot of excitement- great display of whales, dolphins and sea lions! 

Besides the large number of calves seen during their southern migration- the other special events were seeing ALOT of Rissos dolphins.  Last season few were seen- this season --> too many to count!  The most unique sightings were the 2 gray whales with white flukes!  

I was fortunate to go out on the Adventure Hornblower on 31 Cruises!  It's been fun- and I hope you've enjoyed my blog entries!


Posted by Leslie at 5:02 PM PDT
Friday, 04/13/2007
Encounter by a surfer at Sunset Beach...
Mood:  special

I had someone add a comment to one of the whale polls.. and had to share since it happened during this season's gray whale migration! 

"I was surfing at Sunset Beach in California & a Gray Whale passed right by me, about 20 ft away.
They are amazing creatures!!"  Cool


Posted by Leslie at 8:00 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 04/15/2007 5:00 PM PDT
Saturday, 03/17/2007
Rissos a plenty!
Mood:  lucky


Happy St. Patty's Day!

It's getting to be late in the season; so I took advantage of this day and spent it on the boat!  The weather was not ideal for whale sightings, but I was determined to find a whale! 

During the AM cruise, we were blessed with the sighting of RISSOS dolphins - majestic and fun to watch!  There were about 30 in the group.  The passengers were thrilled and I reminded them that this IS a special treat. 

We had better luck on the PM cruise... not only did we see a group of ~50 RISSOS- putting on a spectacular show, but on the way back to the bay (southbound along the Kelp Beds), Capt Jeff *finally* spotted a blow.  It turned out to be a Female/Calf pair.  Then, a 3rd (adult) whale showed itself.  I wish we could have stayed longer; but the boat had to return to dock...   


Posted by Leslie at 9:00 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 03/18/2007 9:51 PM PDT
Monday, 03/12/2007
Tsunami wall of Common Dolphins
Mood:  special

From the Whaler Sightings log....  had to share!  AM cruise: "Ok, we have this one on video -- 3 miles of dolphins!  About a football field in width- awesome! Plus- the most unusual whale sighting - a juvenile gray whale lingering amongst the dolphins, floating on its' back - just below the surface; rolling around.  It held the front half of its' head above the surface for a bit.  Small blow then a shallow dive.  Incredible view of the whale just below the surface.  Appeared to be ok; enjoying being w/ the dolphins! 

...  On the way back in we saw the 'tsunami' wall of dolphins.  Also large herds of sea lions.  OH Oh -Saw a gray in the bay!  We saw just the arch, knuckles of the whale (by the 2nd marker along John Wayne's jetty).  WOW - This was a news worthy & eventful morning!"

PM Cruise:

"Spotted the "Bay Gray" again by the Jetty, on the way out of the bay.  8 miles out- we saw a group of 25-30 Rissos  with a pair of bottlenose (w/ smaller calf) intermingling with the Rissos.  2 Rissos leaped out and slapped the water with their heads. 

On approach @ about 400 yds we saw blows & then a total of 12 breaches!  Turned out to be a group of 9 adult Gray whales!  They were very relaxed with us - parallel swim for approx. 40 minutes. Lots of blows with rainbows misting out to sea.  One very large adult came near the boat to 'check us out'. Gentle giants cruising Northbound @ about 10-11 miles out.  Saw one solo whale on the way back in" (excerpt from the Whaler Sightings log)


Posted by Leslie at 9:00 PM PDT
Updated: Sunday, 03/18/2007 9:39 PM PDT
Saturday, 03/03/2007
Northbound whales
Mood:  happy

I know ... it's been awhile.  I am going out on the boat each week..  but with work, I have little time to 'play' on the computer.  

 ...  This afternoon was beautiful!  We're getting the warm Santa Ana winds and plenty of sunshine.   The Adventure headed out of the bay due West - in search of the Northbound Gray whales.   It's that time in the season...

We found dolphins everywhere- in every direction!  Pacific White Sided & commons.   We even saw a couple of sea lions hanging out with their flippers in the air!

THEN..  something wonderful appeared ... a *large* group of Rissos dolphins!  This is a special treat and I was thrilled!  Everyone got a great view- as the dolphins were surrounding the boat on both sides.  The glow of their white bodies underneath the water was beautiful.  A few were playful- jumping & breaching out of the water.

On the way back into the bay, we spent a short time with 2 whales- which appeared to be a female with her calf.  She probably had ONE thing on her mind....   Arctic Sea --> food --> gotta head north... 


Posted by Leslie at 9:26 PM PST
Sunday, 01/28/2007
14 whales!
Mood:  happy

I am still giddy from this morning's cruise!  What a wonderful day out on the Pacific!   Still a bit chilly, but the water was calm; smooth like ice. 

It didn't take long for us to find our "1st" whale(s) -  10:15am!  Amazing!  All in all- we sighted about 14 whales during the 3 1/2 hour cruise. 

Besides the great viewing of the whales fluking with the coastline behind them (as well as the Coronado Islands), we came upon a pair of whales with some Pacific White Sided dolphins swimming alongside the whales.  Captain Bill told the passengers that this is a sign that some "whale lovin' might be going on".  Sure enough....   we saw mating behaviour!  

The Gray Whales are magnificant ... and I enjoyed sharing that with the passengers today:  all the cute kids, a group visiting from Germany, and my new friend- Theresa - with her husband and son.  We had a fun group of passengers today.  Made the trip that much better! 


Posted by Leslie at 7:25 PM PST
Sunday, 01/21/2007
9-11 adult whales this morning!
Mood:  happy

...Yet another beautiful morning on the Pacific..... I and everyone on the boat were blessed with the sight of 9-10 whales!   They were traveling in pairs; and showing their flukes quite often.  We also saw MANY blows off in the distance.   As always, the passengers were thrilled to see the dolphins... hundreds of COMMON dolphins.

 


Posted by Leslie at 7:36 PM PST
Updated: Sunday, 01/28/2007 8:29 PM PST
Saturday, 01/20/2007
Another good day!

 

 Elisabeth wrote about the AM cruise..., "We saw 3 pairs of whales...  It was fantastic when they came up right at the boat.  The blow was so loud it startled me, because I was looking farther away!"


Posted by Leslie at 2:31 PM PST

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