A Major Goal Accomplished

Our California adventure continued with an attempt to check off a major "to do" – to see a Blue Whale. 

The world's largest animal – ever!

After our trip to Anacapa, we were skeptical because we saw NO sea life and posted sightings hadn't listed Blues for days. And, the beginning of the our trip had us a bit worried.

Nothing but an oil rig -- yuck!

It was quite foggy, which is bad for photography but good for sea travel because it keeps the seas calmer. It didn't take long to see some action – the Common Dolphin ...

Common Dolphins

A fun animal to watch

... which appears in enormous numbers ... 

With a long lens, I could capture only groups within the bigger group

Over the course of the day, we saw hundreds, perhaps thousands. 

Because they are so active, you can really see them

They are incredibly entertaining – jumping, diving, circling the boat and riding the wake. 

A close encounter

Plus, they had many babies with them.

That's a baby in the middle

We moved on, looking for whales and did encounter a humpback that we followed for some time. It was traveling rather than feeding, so we didn't really get any exciting whale activity - not even a fluke.

Yawn!

As we traveled far out to the Channel Islands, we saw lots of Common Dolphins, plus a few feeding California Sea Lions. 

At first, we thought this was a Dolphin

Santa Cruz

Failing to find whales, Captain Dave gave us a tour of Santa Cruz Island's cliffs ...

A pretty dramatic shore

... including a look at nesting Pacific Brown Pelicans ...

We saw hundreds on the cliffs

... a sail-by of some California Sea Lions ...

Not as big as Steller Sea Lions, but still impressive

... and a look at some sea caves ...

The cliff has many, many caves

... including Painted Cave, the largest sea cave in the world.

Painted Cave

While we didn't disembark, we did get a good look a Santa Cruz.

And, we met some friendly (?) residents

A New Animal

Close to Santa Cruz, we were lucky to encounter a pod of Risso's Dolphins, a type of Dolphin I first heard of the day before when I saw them posted on Island Packer's tally board. 

I didn't know about these interesting animals

And, even cooler, this pod had lots of babies ...

The babies are darker than the adults

This is a large dolphin that feeds on squid and it incredibly scarred because the squid fight back. 

Squid "painting"

They have round heads somewhat like Belugas and dorsal fins like Orcas. And, they aren't seen that often because they stay off shore and tend to be nocturnal. So, our pod of at least eight was a great find. But, it wasn't a Blue Whale.

A baby with its round head

Jackpot!

The day was getting late and it would soon be time to head back to Venture. We were just about to get discouraged when we hit the jackpot. Two Blue Whales surfaced slowly and then came over and circled our boat!!!

Wow!!!

The naturalist had told us that Blue Whales generally pay no heed to whale watch boats. So, approaching us and circling was special.

Blue Whales tend to stay pretty low in the water

Those two were followed by two more at close range. 

We could clearly see this one's blowhole

Incredible!!!! 

We even briefly saw one's head

A life's dream realized.

Not as exuberant as Dolphins, so harder to see

At up to 100 ft. in length and 200 tons or more in weight, the Blue Whale is the largest known animal ever to have existed. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant and their hearts as much as an automobile. 

A little bit of fluke (see the Whale's body underwater?)

Blue Whales are among Earth's longest-lived animals. Scientists have discovered that by counting the layers of a deceased whale's wax-like earplugs, they can get a close estimate of the animal's age. 

A very small dorsal fin and distinctive skin patterns

The oldest Blue Whale found using this method was determined to be around 110 years old. Average lifespan is estimated at around 80 to 90 years.

The underwater view hints at this animal's incredible length

Blue Whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers until protected by the international community in 1966.  

I honestly never thought I'd see one and we saw four!

Between 1900 and the mid-1960s, some 360,000 Blue Whales were slaughtered. Now, there are an estimated 10,000 to 25,000 in the world's oceans. Channel Islands is one of the few places where they come close enough to shore to see on a whale watch.

Well worth the trip!

More Fun

On the way back, the sun came out and, as we headed to shore, we encountered a feeding frenzy. This happens when a group of predators encounters a large school of fish to feed on. We saw Common Dolphins heading that direction and then noticed that there were also a large number of Sea Lions in mix.

Heading for lunch

We saw Common Dolphins heading that direction and then noticed that there were also a large number of Sea Lions in mix.

I had never seen Sea Lions move that fast

Plus, Humpback Whale got into the fray.

A feeding Humpback Whale

And, this was all happening very close to shore.

I guess you could sit on shore and watch

I guess that would be a good reason to live in California.

If I didn't live in the mountains, I would want to be near Whales

After watching for awhile, we had to continue the short distance back to the marina. We passed massive numbers of Gulls, Cormorants and Brown Pelicans, both in the water ... 

There must be lots of food for these birds

... and on the jetties by the harbor ...

That's a lot of Pelicans

But, then, we had to end the trip back at Ventura Harbor.

Back home

Caty capturing Blue Whales

It was a marvelous day.

We got see more of a new National Park.

We got to see thousands of Common Dolphins.

We got to see an animal we didn't even know existed.

And, we saw Blue Whales.

Mission accomplished!

Thanks, Caty, for picking the trip. 

Bye!

Trip date: July 26-August 8, 2013

Anacapa Island

Just back from Alaska and off for another adventure ... this one a trip to California and Crater Lake in southern Oregon with daughter Caty. We flew into Santa Barbara and checked into our hotel at Ventura Harbor. 

Lovely Ventura Harbor

Our first stop is a new national park for both of us: Channel Islands National Park. It's a string of islands off the coast of California separated by a deep trench and known for remoteness and unique plant and animal life. 

Channel Islands National Park

Map: Bearfoot Theory

Close to the California mainland, the park encompasses five of the eight California Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara) and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting natural and cultural resources. 

The Park bridges two biogeographical provinces and in a remarkably small place, harbors the biologic diversity of nearly 2,500 miles of the North American coast. The Channel Islands are home to over 2,000 plant and animal species, of which 145 are found nowhere else in the world.

Much of the diversity is on other islands; Anacapa is very rocky

Like the Galapagos Islands of South America, isolation has allowed evolution to proceed independently on the islands. Marine life ranges from microscopic plankton to the blue whale, the largest animal to live on Earth. Archeological and cultural resources span a period of more than 13,000 years of human habitation.

Anacapa is 20 miles from Ventura

It is one of the least visited of all of America's National Parks. 

Access is by boat.

The light is welcoming

Anacapa Island
Visiting all the islands would be difficult. We took a boat trip to Anacapa Island. 

Anacapa island

We traveled with Island Packers, which runs transport and sightseeing visits to the Park.

We have traveled with Island Packers several times

The trip took quite a while because the seas were a bit rough. We hoped to see Whales or Dolphins or something, but all we saw were distant birds. 

Nada!

Anacapa is very small, two miles long and less than a half a mile wide. It's basically a huge rock in the ocean, surrounded by other huge rocks, some carved into arches by the sea.

Kayakers around Arch Rock

It has a lighthouse ...

Anacapa Light

... a Visitors Center ...

Bird poop decorates the Visitor center sign

... and millions of birds ...

Earlier in the season; Photo: KCET

The boat maneuvered into a small cove to dock. It was a little bit scary. You could easily imagine being dashed against the rocks. After we got off the boat and climbed the steep 157 stairs, there was a "briefing" about the island that took way too long (could we not do this on the boat?). In fact, it took up much of the time we had allotted on the island.

Our boat

We wanted to see as much as we could in the short time we had left before we had to return to the boat. Despite the late arrival, the boat schedule didn't change. So, we barely had time to hike to the end -- Inspiration Point -- to view the island string. 

The string of islands

All of the advertisements for Channel island show magnificent golden flowers. 

Not when we were there! Photo: Ventura Harbor

And, while not technically a lie, it's pretty misleading. Those flowers bloom annually in the spring for a short time. I am sure it is lovely. But, the rest of the year, the plants are brown and wilted looking as if there had been some kind of disaster. Nuclear. Fire. Plague. Take your choice.

Reality

And, because it's a rookery, it smells pretty bad. Ok, really bad. And, everything (everything!) is covered in poop. Thank goodness for the wind: it could have been worse.

There is camping available. We saw some people trying to set up in that same wind that reduces the smell. It was a miracle they could hold onto their tent. 

Overheard: "It seemed like a good idea!"

I do image the stars could be fabulous if it doesn't get too foggy at night. I bet it gets foggy at night, which means everything would be covered in wet poop!

Channel island is the world's largest Brown Pelican rookery ...

Pacific Brown Pelicans

... and the largest Western gull rookery in the western U.S.

Western Girls

So, we rushed to the end, took some photos and rushed back to the boat in time for departure.

Caty on the steep trail

We did see some wildlife, including lots of Western Gulls ...

Adult Western Gull

They were in the stage of breeding where the eggs had hatched and the youngsters fledged. This year's chicks could fly, but were still hanging close to parents looking for food.

Juvenile Western Girl

We did see one fierce mama protecting an unhatched egg. While it could have been a late laying, it was probably an unviable egg that she had not yet figured out that it was not going to hatch.

Guarding that egg!

We also saw some California Sea LIons hauled out on the beach way below the cliff on the opposite side of the island.

California Sea Lions

I may have been a bit rough -- because of the brown plants and poop -- but there are many lovely aspects of the Park, especially the blue, blue ocean and the dramatic sea arches.

Anacapa Island

Plus, it's a treat to visit one of the nation's least visited Parks.

Trip date: July 26-August 8, 2013