2016 05-03 SB Coast
It was densely foggy until late in the trip, with a few sucker holes with sun pouring down. There was just enough wind to entice a few kite-boarders. The coastal waters have turned a rich green-brown with the Spring bloom. It was a good single trip and here is the story:
12 noon
Heading out of the Harbor on radar does not happen very often. Such was the auspicious start to our excursion. We ran the kelp highway west as far as Isla Vista without seeing any spouts. There were spots along the highway with half-mile or more visibility and some solar warmth, but at IV we encountered a wall of dense stratus with no hope of seeing whales or kelp in it. Captain Dave turned the Condor Express around and re-traced his path while running east with the wind at our tail. As we approached the old extinguished light tower the fog lifted completely and the sun shone down upon 4 gray whales migrating along the outer edge, and sometimes middle of, the kelp. It was a quad pod. I coined the term quad pod to describe two cow-calf pairs of gray whales, or other Mysticetes. In this case, the two pairs swam as if it was a military flank with all four marching to Alaska side by side. Wow!
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Read More12 noon
Heading out of the Harbor on radar does not happen very often. Such was the auspicious start to our excursion. We ran the kelp highway west as far as Isla Vista without seeing any spouts. There were spots along the highway with half-mile or more visibility and some solar warmth, but at IV we encountered a wall of dense stratus with no hope of seeing whales or kelp in it. Captain Dave turned the Condor Express around and re-traced his path while running east with the wind at our tail. As we approached the old extinguished light tower the fog lifted completely and the sun shone down upon 4 gray whales migrating along the outer edge, and sometimes middle of, the kelp. It was a quad pod. I coined the term quad pod to describe two cow-calf pairs of gray whales, or other Mysticetes. In this case, the two pairs swam as if it was a military flank with all four marching to Alaska side by side. Wow!
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