WHALE WATCHING

Charlie and I haven't been whale watching in years.  We decided, after reading that it was a banner year to see whales off the coast this year, that we'd go again.

Mid January, we drove up to Ventura to the "Day Packers" building and joined a three hour boat ride around the channel islands.  

I love boat rides in general, so any excuse to go out on a boat is great (not cruise boats - smaller boats).  Leaving the shoreline, the first thing we came near was an oil platform.  I knew the platforms along the central coast were in a line.  What I didn't know was that they were lined up on a shallower sea bed.  Just beyond the platforms, the ocean floor takes a steep dive down to 250 ft or so.  Apparently, the dip in the sea floor is what the whales use to go up and down the coast too.

We then saw a huge pod of dolphins.  They were hard to take photos of, but they surfed on the wake of the boat which I think is very nifty!

Pelicans are one of my favorite birds...

Eventually, we came across three gray whales on their way south - a female and two males.  Here's a couple of them visible above the waves:

Charlie and I posed too -

On the way back to the harbor, we dropped off a ranger on Ana Capa Island.  I'd seen the islands from a distance, but never was so close to them.  There's an arch and a lighthouse on the island.

The island is also a nesting spot for sea birds.  Here are some precarious nests for sea gulls.

Dropping someone off on Ana Capa is a bit precarious.  Here's a few photos of the procedure:

It was a gloriously beautiful day - here's some photos on the way back to the harbor.