24 Gray Whales
24 grays whales!!!!! One of them was breaching and 3 were courting! It was spectacular! Plus we saw over 200 common dolphins, 6 bottlenose dolphins, 16 brown booby birds (with 2 chicks), 1 oystercatcher, and 5 elephant seals!!! Whale Count:
24 Gray Whale, 6 Bottlenose Dolphins, 5 Northern Elephant Seal, 200 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
10-24-2011 :
End of the Season
Today was the last trip of the season for Eclipse. We will be readying the vessel for Gray Whales and should be fully operational by December 17th! Today we had good looks at Blue, Finback and Minke Whales. With the usual suspects at the islands and plenty of Common Dolphin throught the day! Whale Count:
6 Blue Whale, 4 Fin Whales, 2 Minke Whales, 25 Bottlenose Dolphins, 150 California Sea Lion, 10 Harbor Seals, 20 Sunfish.
10-21-2011 :
End of the Season
Today was the last trip of the season for Eclipse. We will be readying the vessel for Gray Whales and should be fully operational by December 17th! Today we had good looks at Blue, Finback and Minke Whales. With the usual suspects at the islands and plenty of Common Dolphin throught the day!
Whale Count:
6 Blue Whale, 4 Fin Whales, 2 Minke Whales, 1000 Short-beaked Common Dolphins, 25 Bottlenose Dolphins, 150 California Sea Lion, 10 Sunfish.
10-07-2011 :
Variety Package
Today we had good looks at Finback Whales and Minke Whales lunge feeding- good pod of playing Risso Dolphin. At the islands we saw 1 Oyster Cathcher, 1 Kingfisher. On our way up we spotted 1 Blue Whale and 1 Finback. Sunny and breezy most of the day. Whale Count:
1 Blue Whale, 4 Fin Whales, 3 Minke Whales, 500 Short-beaked Common Dolphins, 25 Rissos Dolphins, 16 California Sea Lion.
09-22-2011 :
Blue and Humpback Feed Fest!
Today was nothing short of spectacular! SURFACE FEEDING Humpack and Blue Whales, along with Minke Whales! It just keeps getting better and better! All was enjoyed and topped off by the island tour and plenty of Bottlenose and Common Dolphins! Whale Count:
16 Blue Whale, 2 Minke Whales, 40 Bottlenose Dolphins, 250 California Sea Lion, 15 Harbor Seals, 2000 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
09-16-2011 :
Coronado Islands Blue Whales and more!
The blues continue to amaze us down by the Coronado Islands. Today we tracked behind 3 whales on their way to the feeding grounds and cruising at 8 knots! One of them even spy-hopped! After tour Middle and North Islands for Brown booby birds, CA sea lions, Pelicans, and Black oystercatchers, we spent more time with half a dozen blues surface-feeding among a huge flock of terns and shearwaters. We even caught a squid to show all on board. Great day! Whale Count:
9 Blue Whale, 35 California Sea Lion.
09-13-2011 :
Incredible Day on the Ocean
Just when we think the bar is set as high as it could possibly go, we get yet another amazing display from the blue whales. We had over 20 today and they were surface feeding right next to us!! Plus, we had 3 minke whales, hundreds of common dolphins, and all our regular sightings at the Coronado Islands! Pics to come tomorrow! Whale Count:
20 Blue Whale, 3 Minke Whales, 100 Short-beaked Common Dolphins, 100 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
09-11-2011 :
Another fantastic day aboard the Eclipse!
We had 12-15 blue whales all surface feeding in crystal clear water very close to the boat. The krill was so visible at the surface, and we even caught some in a bucket to show everyone on board! Plus, we watched sardines and squid feeding on the krill too!! After an enjoyable time with the whales, we ventured to the Coronado Islands to see oystercatchers, brown boobies, seals, and sea lions. Oh, and can't forget the common and bottlenose dolphins! Whale Count:
15 Blue Whale, 35 Bottlenose Dolphins, 15 California Sea Lion, 10 Harbor Seals, 50 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
09-07-2011 :
Fantastic Blue Whale Sightings
Today we encountered 12 blue whales. Almost all of them were paired up again, and this included a cow/calf pair and "Blotchy". Blotchy and his/her buddy came right next to the boat, so close we could look down the blowholes!! Plus we had amazing feeding common dolphins, very playful sea lions, and a rare hammerhead shark! Whale Count:
12 Blue Whale, 1 Harbor Seals.
09-02-2011 :
12 Blue Whales that are cow/calf pairs spotted today
Today we encountered 12 blue whales. Almost all of them were paired up again, and this included a cow/calf pair and "Blotchy". Blotchy and his/her buddy came right next to the boat, so close we could look down the blowholes!! Plus we had amazing feeding common dolphins, very playful sea lions, and a rare hammerhead shark! Whale Count:
12 Blue Whale, 300 Short-beaked Common Dolphins, 300 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
08-31-2011 :
Today was the most incredible day on the water...EVER!!!!
We had about 20 blue whales all in pairs surface-feeding all around us! We got some of the most amazing pictures you could even imagine and memories that no one will ever forget. Pics to get posted later tonight! :D :D Whale Count:
20 Blue Whale.
08-15-2011 :
Our First 8 Hour Trip
We had excellent marine and bird viewing today. We saw a wonderful pod of Common Dolphins that exceed 2,000 Dolphins. We also saw about 150 Bottlenose Dolphins. In addition, we saw 6 Blue Whales and 1 Humpback Whale. The bird viewing was fabulous too with 23 Brown Bobbie Birds, 6 Pacific Footbed Boobie Birds, 13 Black Oyster Catchers, and 1 American Oyster Catcher. Whale Count:
1 Bowhead Whales, 6 Blue Whale, 150 Bottlenose Dolphins, 2000 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
07-22-2011 :
Commons were Common
We had great viewing today of a nice pod of Common Dolphins. They put on a spectacular show for our group today. Whale Count:
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.
