whales

I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. The story is here: http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 Mike Kennedy Conquest Cal 40 # 96

We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the last couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his fluked tail followed him in his quest for the deep. Mark ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Kennedy To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] whales I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. The story is here: http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 Mike Kennedy Conquest Cal 40 # 96 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

As a kid my dad and I sailed through a pod between Catalina and the mainland in his 28 foot wood sloop. We could see 3 out of the water at any given time so there must have been a lot of them. I was under the impression they didn't attack boats. Makes me think... Allen On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Mark Alan Stahnke (MAS Consulting) < ma… [at] cox.net> wrote: > > > We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San > Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the last > couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There > have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and > another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his fluked > tail followed him in his quest for the deep. > Mark > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Michael Kennedy <mt… [at] cox.net> > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] whales > > > > I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja > Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of > Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. > > The story is here: > > > http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 > > Mike Kennedy > Conquest Cal 40 # 96 > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > >

I haven't seen many in recent years, but back in the '60s and '70s, Pilot Whales were very common in the Catalina Channel. Fin Beven From: "Allen Edwards" <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> To: <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:54 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] whales As a kid my dad and I sailed through a pod between Catalina and the mainland in his 28 foot wood sloop. We could see 3 out of the water at any given time so there must have been a lot of them. I was under the impression they didn't attack boats. Makes me think... Allen On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Mark Alan Stahnke (MAS Consulting) < ma… [at] cox.net> wrote: > > > We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San > Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the > last > couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There > have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and > another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his > fluked > tail followed him in his quest for the deep. > Mark > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Michael Kennedy <mt… [at] cox.net> > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] whales > > > > I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja > Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of > Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. > > The story is here: > > > http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 > > Mike Kennedy > Conquest Cal 40 # 96 > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > >

Not because of whales, but because s**t happens, we've carried a life-raft at the base of our companion-way ever since the 2005 TransPac. It can be on deck, and inflated, in 2 - 3 minutes. Cheap life-insurance. Fin. From: "Allen Edwards" <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> To: <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:54 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] whales As a kid my dad and I sailed through a pod between Catalina and the mainland in his 28 foot wood sloop. We could see 3 out of the water at any given time so there must have been a lot of them. I was under the impression they didn't attack boats. Makes me think... Allen On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Mark Alan Stahnke (MAS Consulting) < ma… [at] cox.net> wrote: > > > We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San > Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the > last > couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There > have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and > another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his > fluked > tail followed him in his quest for the deep. > Mark > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Michael Kennedy <mt… [at] cox.net> > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] whales > > > > I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja > Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of > Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. > > The story is here: > > > http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 > > Mike Kennedy > Conquest Cal 40 # 96 > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > >

Allen, Regarding whale attacks:There's a nature video that just came out on the internet yesterday, but I don't remember where I saw it; possibly BBC. Basically, several gray (???) whales are chasing a female in heat, and the dominant males are body slamming the others for breeding rights. The narrator says sometimes the interaction is so violent it proves fatal...so much for our docile leviathans; it depends on what sort of social interaction is going on when you come upon them in your sailing vessel. I guess, just a guess, that the J World boat, with it's dark navy blue hull, got mistaken for a threatening, intruding male whale, and was dispatched in a fit of jealousy. So my hunch is that my little Cal24 in the same situation would have been mistaken for a juvenile at most, and ignored...unless I was standing in the bow pulpit ready to launch a harpoon! Two years ago my crew, Eric, and I were sailing up and over the West End (it was also Buccaneer Weekend and we thought we might be able to find anchorage in the lagoon) after the last official Cal Club Catalina CCCCCC, we spied what we later confirmed to be a blue whale (with a long, long body dark blue body, jagged white side markings, and a smallish ventral fin, and gave chase. We got to where we'd seen it sound, waited around for ten minutes, only to see if surface a quarter mail away, ironically just where we had been when we first saw it. Of course, we thought we were unlucky, but, on the overhand, maybe we were! Jerry Sobel, Shpritz Cal24 #71 --- On Thu, 10/29/09, Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> wrote: From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] whales To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009, 4:54 PM As a kid my dad and I sailed through a pod between Catalina and the mainland in his 28 foot wood sloop. We could see 3 out of the water at any given time so there must have been a lot of them. I was under the impression they didn't attack boats. Makes me think... Allen On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Mark Alan Stahnke (MAS Consulting) <masconsult@cox. net> wrote: We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the last couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his fluked tail followed him in his quest for the deep. Mark ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Kennedy To: Cal_Boats@yahoogrou ps.com Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] whales I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. The story is here: http://www.latitude 38.com/lectronic /lectronicday. lasso?date= 2009-10-29&dayid=344 Mike Kennedy Conquest Cal 40 # 96 Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset. com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset. com

Very interesting story. I think you must be correct, the whale thought the J-120 was a threat of some kind. Mabye the fin keel made it look like a great white. As long as we are telling stories, many years ago I was leaving my marina at Brisbane Marina (Sierra Point) which is well inside SF Bay, near the SF Airport. We saw this whale not very far away, just a few boat lengths to our starboard. Not being very adventerious, I speed up (we were still in the channel so under power) and the thing starts to follow us directly in our wake. Eventually we lost sight of him. I reported it to the coast guard who blew us off with a "thank you very much, whales are reported all the time in the bay". Well, they may be reported, but they are probably not whales and as I grew up seeing them in the LA area, I knew it wasn't any seal. This was, of course, Humphrey. He beached himself near Candlestick Park later that night and was front page news the next day. Allen On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 8:10 PM, Gerald Sobel <so… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > Allen, > Regarding whale attacks:There's a nature video that just came out on the internet yesterday, but I don't remember where I saw it; possibly BBC. Basically, several gray (???) whales are chasing a female in heat, and the dominant males are body slamming the others for breeding rights. The narrator says sometimes the interaction is so violent it proves fatal...so much for our docile leviathans; it depends on what sort of social interaction is going on when you come upon them in your sailing vessel. I guess, just a guess, that the J World boat, with it's dark navy blue hull, got mistaken for a threatening, intruding male whale, and was dispatched in a fit of jealousy. So my hunch is that my little Cal24 in the same situation would have been mistaken for a juvenile at most, and ignored...unless I was standing in the bow pulpit ready to launch a harpoon! > > Two years ago my crew, Eric, and I were sailing up and over the West End (it was also Buccaneer Weekend and we thought we might be able to find anchorage in the lagoon) after the last official Cal Club Catalina CCCCCC, we spied what we later confirmed to be a blue whale (with a long, long body dark blue body, jagged white side markings, and a smallish ventral fin, and gave chase. We got to where we'd seen it sound, waited around for ten minutes, only to see if surface a quarter mail away, ironically just where we had been when we first saw it. Of course, we thought we were unlucky, but, on the overhand, maybe we were! > > Jerry Sobel, Shpritz Cal24 #71 > > --- On Thu, 10/29/09, Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> wrote: > > From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> > Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] whales > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009, 4:54 PM > > > > As a kid my dad and I sailed through a pod between Catalina and the mainland in his 28 foot wood sloop. We could see 3 out of the water at any given time so there must have been a lot of them. I was under the impression they didn't attack boats. Makes me think... > > Allen > > On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM, Mark Alan Stahnke (MAS Consulting) <masconsult@cox. net> wrote: >> >> >> >> We have been observing what we believe to be Blue Whales off the San Pedro, California coast and as close as a mile or two off shore. In the last couple of months they have been observed daily and mostly in pods. There have been so many that in one glance I saw one pod a couple miles out and another one about 5 or more miles out. One breached the water and his fluked tail followed him in his quest for the deep. >> Mark >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: Michael Kennedy >> To: Cal_Boats@yahoogrou ps.com >> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:00 PM >> Subject: [Cal_Boats] whales >> >> >> I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja >> Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of >> Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. >> >> The story is here: >> >> http://www.latitude 38.com/lectronic /lectronicday. lasso?date= 2009-10-29&dayid=344 >> >> Mike Kennedy >> Conquest Cal 40 # 96 >> >> >> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ >> >> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. >> >> http://www.eset. com >> >> >> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4556 (20091029) __________ >> >> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. >> >> http://www.eset. com > >

Michael Kennedy wrote: > > > I don't know how many of you read the on-line Latitude 38 but the Baja > Ha Ha is under way and a J 120 was sunk by a whale yesterday south of > Ensenada. It went down in 5 minutes. > > The story is here: > > http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344 > <http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-10-29&dayid=344> > Thanks for posting that link. I enjoyed the video of the CG rescue of the crew. It looks like they put a rescue swimmer down and he assisted people in the water, out of the raft. He comes up last. They make it look easy. Our schooner crew has had a couple trainings by the local CG air search & rescue unit but I had forgotten the "get out of the raft into the water" part. I hope that's a piece of information I never need to know. This one was in good weather, but I'm really in awe of those rescue swimmers, the ones who leave the nice dry security of a helicopter and leap into the water, often in gruesome conditions. Chris Campbell > >