Phil Friedman Outdoors

Dolphin stuck in Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach, California

A wayward dolphin made a wrong turn and now is trapped in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach, California. The dolphin looks to be in good shape as rescuers are attempting to steer the lost mammal back to sea or perhaps net the creature and transport it back to sea. 

Many people are gathering along the wetlands trying to get a look as well as shoot photos and video. News helicopters are hovering above adding to the spectacle. 

READ MORE ON PHILIP FRIEDMAN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Barracuda bite in Ensenada, Baja California

Angler gets towed out to sea

Biggest yellowfin tuna ever

Awesome killer whale video off Long Beach

 Video: Man eats live squid

Man catches giant halibut from Southern California surf 

 Hear Henry Winkler, THE FONZ on Philip Friedman Outdoors Radio

Listen: Ted Nugent goes CRAZY on Whale Wars Paul Watson

Listen: Bill Warren goes looking for Osama Bin Laden

 

 

(Video) Gray whale swims under boat off Hermosa Beach feeding on krill

Northbound gray whales continue to make their way up the Baja coast and head back to Alaska completing the longest mammalian migration know to man; over 10,000 miles. The whales head to the warm water lagoons of Baja California every year around January to calf, and then head back to the Bering Sea every spring. 

Two of those whales returning home were bumped in to by a private boat on Saturday just off Hermosa Beach, CA.  The whales seem oblivious to the nearby boat focusing instead on great balls of krill for a noontime snack.

"We were about 1 mile off Hermosa Beach on Friday afternoon filming for our website HookBuzz.com," said Clark McNulty from Hermosa Beach. McNulty was with his good friends Casey and Jenny Adams on a Catalina 30 sailboat named Pegasus.

 

" As we were headed back toward the harbor I noticed a whale stick his head out of the water while remaining stationary. He was not swimming but just hanging out in one area. We were absolutely amazed by these two whales behavior. We weren't sure what they were doing at first but then realized they were feeding on blankets of krill," said McNulty.

But how often do gray whales eat krill? "We don't see it very often," said researcher Alisa Schulman-Janizer from the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project. "It is definently more on display this season. There is surface krill everywhere; grays are known to eat over 85 types of prey."

In the video, you can see one of the whales clearly swim under the boat and occupants for a tense moment or two. Jenny Adams seemed concerned."I was going to take a picture but then I got so scared of him going under the boat that I had to stop," she said.

"The whales basically hung out on the surface siphoning all the krill in through their baleen. I have never seen anything like it. Both whales were juveniles with a length of approximately 20-25ft. At one point the whales came right up to the boat almost touching the hull of the sailboat with their faces. One of them even followed the boat for 20 yards or so! We stayed around them for about 35 minutes and then left them alone to continue feeding," said McNulty.

The orange haze you see around the whale are tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill. You can see the whale gorging on it's scrumptious feast and treating the onlookers to an Easter Weekend they will never forget. 

Northbound gray whales will be passing by Southern California for at least another few weeks while vast quantities of krill bode well for blue whale enthusiasts. 

MORE ON PHILIP FRIEDMAN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Angler gets towed out to sea

Biggest yellowfin tuna ever

Awesome killer whale video off Long Beach

 Video: Man eats live squid

Man catches giant halibut from Southern California surf 

 Hear Henry Winkler, THE FONZ on Philip Friedman Outdoors Radio

Listen: Ted Nugent goes CRAZY on Whale Wars Paul Watson

 Listen: Bill Warren goes looking for Osama Bin Laden

 

 

 

 

Orcas spotted off Palos Verdes on Saturday afternoon chasing dolphin

Captain Danny Salas of the Christopher out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach is used to sighting whales for his passengers from the bridge of the Christoper. Today however, Salas is spotting Orcas from a lookout on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Salas was driving near Point Vicente with his 16 year old daughter Caroline when the young student from Palos Verdes High saw some giant dorsal fins slicing through the water. "Dad, I think I see a pod of killer whales." Salas pulled over and sure enough there was a sizable pod of Orcas. Captain Salas estimated that there were around 10 killer whales.

Then, off in the distance the younger Salas spied a huge pod of dolphin. "Dad, the killer whales are headed right for them." Capatain Salas said the pod of orcas headed straight for the dolphin and when they arrived, the dolphin started to jump out of the water.

"It looked to us like they were eating the dolphin," said Salas. "The dolphin reacted like they were in fear for their lives; not only jumping out of the water but swimming in every direction looking confused."

Salas alerted the Christopher who was departing Long Beach at 3pm for the afternoon whale watch trip. The orcas were headed east towards Long Beach so the passengers on board are sure to get a great show in minutes.

"I owe this one to my daughters eagle eye," said Salas. "It looks like we are going to have some inctredible sights for Easter."

It appears as though this pod of killer whales was actually spotted earlier. I recieved the following message on Facebook from Scientist Alisa Shulman-Janiger .

"Our observers first spotted the orcas off of the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project post (at Pt, Vicente) around 2pm. They confirmed tham as orcas by 2:15 and called me," said scientist Alisa Shulman-Janiger. " I called about 15 people, including the captain of the Voyager and Kera Mathes (LB Aquarium); Kera called the Christopher about 2:25 to tell them about the orcas (they had not yet heard). I have identified 8 orcas - including t3 males - so far from the photos taken."

Bernardo Alps provided all of these dramatic photos of the killer whale pod off Palos Verdes. He posted the following on Facebook:

"Got "The Call" from Alisa just after ordering lunch at Puesta Del Sol on Saturday. Diane drove me home, I raced over to Long Beach just in time to hop on the Kristina out of Harbor Breeze Cruises with Capt. Gary Wiley.

We passed a pod of common dolphins and two gray whales to catch up with the killer whales about 6 miles south of Point Fermin heading towards Catalina Island. There were six whales and I immediately recognized CA217, the adult male with the missing dorsal nicknamed Chopfin, and CA140, a female with a very distinctive double notch in the trailing edge of her dorsal fin.

I have seen both of them several times before. Capt. Gary positioned us perfectly and I was able to obtain excellent ID photos of all animals. The orcas pretty much ignored the small flotilla following them and at one time surfaced just 30 feet from the Kristina.

As were heading home already late, we came across two more orcas, little more than a mile from the main group. Capt. Gary turned the Kristina around so that we could ID these two additional whales. Just as we were going to leave them, now really late, they attacked a small California sea lion. They knocked the pinniped around for a few minutes and then headed off. Here are some of my photos from that amazing trip."

Thank you Bernardo! 

MORE ON PHILIP FRIEDMAN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Angler gets towed out to sea

Biggest yellowfin tuna ever

Awesome killer whale video off Long Beach

 Video: Man eats live squid

Man catches giant halibut from Southern California surf 

 Hear Henry Winkler, THE FONZ on Philip Friedman Outdoors Radio

Listen: Ted Nugent goes CRAZY on Whale Wars Paul Watson

 Listen: Bill Warren goes looking for Osama Bin Laden

 

 

 

 

 

Orcas spotted off the Palos Verdes Coast on board the Kristina

Photo credit: A previous photo of a majestic Orca by NOAA

Captain Bryce Doon on board the Kristina out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach reported seeing over 12 orcas off Point Vicente on the 3pm whale watch trip today. "We tried to get an accurate count of the pod and came up with 15," said Doon. "Our passengers were really excited to see them."

Killer whales are actually dolphins. In fact, they are the largest dolphins in existence measuring over 30 feet in length and weighing up to 12,000-pounds. Their brains are 5-times larger than the human brain and are very social, intelligent and curious creatures.

Killer whales are swift predators capable of traveling up to 30 miles per hour. They eat up to 5% of their body weight per day which can translate up to 500-pounds of food for each orca.

Life expectancy of a Killer Whale in the wild is 50 - 60 years for males, and up to 90 years for females, however, Killer Whales held in captivity have not lived longer than 30 years, and the average life expectancy for captive Orcas is only 20 years.

Recently, Harbor Breeze Cruises has been seeing lots of dolphin as well as fin whales. Fin whales are the second largest whale in the world and one of the fastest clocking in at around 23 miles per hour.

"This just spices things up for our whale watchers," said Scott Louie from Harbor Breeze Cruises. "We are just hoping they stick around a while."

 

Rare dolphins on the brink of extiction found dead in Australia.

 
 There was public outrage Friday at the discovery of two dead snub fin dolphins tied to mangroves and weighted with a concrete slab.The snubfin species is now on the brink of extinction, with just 1,000 left in the wild.

The rare species The dolphins were found in wetlands in Australia's world-famous Great Barrier Reef region last week by a recreational fisherman. Police said they suspected they were caught in a net cast by illegal fishing crews.

The Australian snubfin dolphin, Orcaella heinsohni, lives in shallow coastal waters in northern Australia and possibly Papua New Guinea. In the Pacific Ocean off Townsville, about 200 individual snubfin dolphins were found. The species is alsp found in the waters of Papua New Guinea, but that the majority live in Australian waters.

The snub nose dolphin resembles and is closely related to the Irrawaddy dolphin, and until it was described in 2005, it was thought to be an Irrawaddy dolphin. Experts say the discovery of a new mammal is extremely rare. In fact, the Australian snubfin is the first new dolphin species to be discovered in 56 years!

Authorities are seeking leads on the animals, which they suspect could have been accidentally caught in nets but then dumped among the mangroves to hide the killings, which fishing boat operators are required to report. Animal Activists and others want the dolphin listed as nationally threatened.

Photo provided by Wikipedia