2009 06-28 SB Channel
Condor Express crew member Dennis James uses the gaff to land a cluster of Santa Barbara Giant Crab Eggs. This tempting delicacy is very rare, but when spread on crackers with a little bit of lemon juice and diced onions.... Does anyone believe this stuff? No? Good, because what we have here is an enormous bunch of helium-filled balloons that blew out to sea, like they all do, and became another addition to our marine plastic debris pollution problem. Oh, by the way, is that "EZ's" head at the bottom left? and Amanda at the top?
It is breeding season for California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus), and young bulls that are not yet able to fight and hold beachfront property on the rookery will often leave the area. Here we see a young bull on the Santa Barbara Harbor entrance buoy along with some females, sort of a mini-harem without the beach. This may be the young bull that got its hind flippers caught between the buoy fittings and could not get back in the water. So as the story was told, the kind Harbor Patrolman used a long wooden pole to try and dislodge the beast. When the sea lion saw this pole, it turned around and with one quick bite, snapped the pole in half. At least that's the story I heard.
Resting on the volcanic rocky ledges of Santa Cruz Island...a young bull California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) and a bunch of females. A female seen just to the left of center has been branded with large numbers and has yellow tracking tags on right and left flippers.
