My Experience on the Boat

By: Marco Sanchez

8/5/08

Today I saw a humpback whale. I also saw common dolphins, Risso's dolphins, and sea lions. When I saw the humpback whale, I got so happy because I had never seen one before. It was so cool! It was a baby one. The first time I saw it, it was big. The whale’s whole mouth and eyes came out of the water. The second time that I went out there, the whale was sleeping. The humpback whale was underwater sleeping. The humpback whale was just a baby. I kept saying, “Wow!” the humpback whale was a pretty color. The humpback whale is a baleen whale. Humpback whales only feed in summer in polar waters. The humpback whale gives birth in the winter. The humpback whale can weigh up to 79,000 lbs. They can reach up to 40-50 feet in length.

My Experience on the Boat

8/7/08

Today on the boat I saw common dolphins. The dolphins were jumping out of the water. The dolphins jumped up very high. Adults range between 2.3 to 2.6 meters long. The common dolphin can weigh up to 135 kilograms. Common dolphins travel in groups that can be over 1000 in number. I saw a lot of pods of common dolphins out there. I was so excited when I saw the common dolphins.

Then I saw a sunfish out in the ocean. The sunfish was big. I think that the sunfish was 4 feet long. The adult can reach a weight of 5,000 pounds. The sunfish eats jellyfish. Ocean sunfish may live up to ten years in captivity. That is what I saw out there in the ocean. I was so happy when I saw the sunfish. I had a great time!

My Experience on the Boat

8/14/08

We saw common dolphins again today. The common dolphins were squeaking under the water talking to each other. Then some of the dolphins were riding on the waves that the boat made. The captain, the kids, and I pointed out the direction of the dolphins using the clock method. We also saw the sea lions on the buoy. As we were getting closer to them, they started barking. I thought maybe they were talking to each other saying that the humans were getting next to them. Then one of the ladies took the clamp scoop and got a dirt glob out of the water. Then they told the kids to look at it. Then we came back to the Ocean Institute and went inside the Ocean Institute.

My Experience on the Boat

8/19/08

Today on the boat we saw pods of dolphins. We saw three types of dolphins today. They were common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and Risso’s dolphins today. The dolphins were jumping high up off of the water. The dolphins were coming to the boat to swim with us. We heard the dolphins talking to each other. Then we saw the Risso’s dolphins, and we followed the dolphins. The dolphins were trying to trap us, but Captain Mike, knew the trap that they were trying to do. Captain Mike turned the boat around and sped up. And that is what I did today.

My Experience on the Boat

Today the staff gave the little kids a tour on the boat. Then after that we saw sea lions. The sea lions were sleeping. We saw some sea lions swimming in the water. Sea lions can grow to over 300 kg. Sea lions eat squid and fish. Sea lions are up to 7 feet long. When I saw the sea lions, I was so happy to see them again! Then all the kids went to the back of the boat to get mud. The staff put the little kids in groups.  I saw all the kids putting the plankton in the correct spot. That is what I did today. 

 My Experience on the Boat     

8/28/08

Today on the boat the staff gave the little kids a tour on the boat. Then we saw sea lions and bottlenose dolphins. The staff talked about the sea lions. The kids got happy when they saw sea lions. Then we went to see bottlenose dolphins. There were a lot of pods of bottlenose dolphins. We saw a lot of babies with their mothers. The kids were so happy when they saw the dolphins. Then the kids went to the back to get mud from the bottom of the sea with the Peterson Grab.Then the kids got in their stations. Jose and I helped out with the staff, and that’s what I did today.