Edhat *Edhat Fact*: There were 1,168 Valentine's Day cards on sale at Hallmark. [more ] Free Newsletter News Events Calendar Advertise amazon twitter facebook RSS * 8090 SUBSCRIBERS * * 560 PAID (6.9%) * *Orca Sighting* updated: May 20, 2010, 4:29 PM /By Edhat Subscriber/ Follow up to a What's Up I posted on Tuesday of this week that didn't get any official comments. This was sent by a friend affiliated with the CINC, seems to be the actual cause of the mega sea lion pods in retreat recently. To: Subject: [CINC] ORCA last week On Wednesday, May 12, IPCO took a spirited group of Simi Valley students, along with the local Ventura "Tai Chi" club, and assorted other visitors, to Anacapa for the day. On the way out, we saw several humpbacks, before learning that Orca had been sighted near platform Gail. So, after a practically unanimous YES vote, Captain Anthony took us on a slight detour, and we were overwhelmed with what came next...(ta-da: insert suspense here...)... You got it - first we mingled with a mega pod of common dolphin, interspersed with sea lions and probably every other creature that could SWIM FAST, all heading in a frenzy away from our destination. These guys were definitely not interested in us, no time for curiosity or bow-riding; in fact the only attention we got was from a lingering juvenile sea lion, hugging the boat with that desperate look in its eye: "please, haul me out with you!". Some might call this "anthropomorphizing", but, really, there was little doubt about the fear this mob radiated. Soon enough, there it was, a male Orca dorsal fin - maybe 5+ feet tall - slinking its way towards the platform...heading towards the mainland. There may have been one or two others - I believe I caught a glimpse of another male dorsal fin - no falcate female fins; I don't know how many were traveling together - we kept our distance. The large male surfaced enough to present a side-view of his entire body length, displaying the white saddle. Yep. My camera battery had just died. Our esteemed colleague David Begun was on board, and perhaps he caught a few photo ops? With all the children on board, and, even worse, me, Captain Anthony thought it best to leave before anything brutal happened...We left without witnessing any natural predation. Thank goodness! I can't express how exciting this was for everyone on board. The very best day EVER!!! Thank you Captain Anthony, 1 comment on this article. Read/Add # # # # SEARCH RELATED KEYWORDS: subscriber follows post mega lion pods Orca sighting Channel related event ShareThis Send this article to a friend Your Email Friend's Email [ easy-to-print version of this page ] *copyright © 2003-2010 coolmaps.com inc. *