Report from Wayne Sentman on Day 1

Oceanic Society Report from Midway:  March/April 2008.  By Wayne Sentman

It was wonderful to land on Midway with the first group of ecotourists in 6 years and hear the albatross “mooing” away. In the morning we all awoke to bill clacking and sub-adults dancing.

West Coast of Baja / Sea of Cortez Expedition
15-26 March 2007 Trip Report

Naturalist: Isidore Szczepaniak

Thursday, March 15

Passengers arrived from 1700 to 2000. At 21:00 we had a brief orientation and introduction and then left. We stopped at the bait tanks and had good looks at California sea lions, great blue herons and black crowned night herons. Bird count for the day was 9 species.

Friday, March 16

Shortly after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge, our boat encountered up to 20 harbor porpoises. On our way to the Farallones, we came upon short-finned pilot whales, and right after that whale watchers were able to have great observations of 20 Risso's dolphins and 15 Pacific white-sided dolphins. Six miles south of the Farallones, we encountered three humpback whales that were apparently deep-dive feeding as they rose to the surface, replenished their air, then dived for longer periods of time. At the Farallones, we sighted a mother gray whale with her calf.