Surf’s up! With ten foot swells, the Pacifica had itself a nice rollercoaster ride today as we ventured once again to the north. Not far from the harbor, we encountered some 15 humpbacks, and settled on a group of four who were being swarmed by over 100 sea lions (the sea lions eat the same fish as the humpbacks). With massive schools of fish showing up on the sonar, it was a true feeding frenzy. Just south of there, we found a group of roughly 50 Risso’s dolphin, who led us almost all the way back to the harbor before we turned off and made one final lap out west, to Pt Pinos, where we encountered roughly 30 Pacific White Sided Dolphin, who surfed the bow of the boat for quite some time until it was time to head home. Just outside the harbor, ANOTHER group of roughly 200 Risso’s dolphin stopped us, along with another 50 or so White Sides, which we watched for a little while until everyone on the boat said, “We’re hungry!” So it was. Back in time for lunch, with a bounty of wildlife behind us and a great one and done kind of day (afternoon trip cancelled on account of increasing wind and seas).
-Naturalist Isaiah
