Whale of an Outing

The gentle, 25-ton giant had no qualms about twisting and spouting for those aboard the Vanguard.

In behavior that research biologists say is becoming increasingly common, the 50-foot humpback whale spent half an hour getting friendly with the visitors--poking its head above the 600-foot-deep waters off Santa Cruz Island, opening its plate-sized eye to watch the watchers and even rolling over like a dog looking for a good scratch.

“This is what it’s all about, right here,” said Jacob Emmons, a naturalist, watching the whales Tuesday. “Breathtaking.”

Although humpback and blue whales are often found feeding near the Channel Islands off Ventura, the huge but docile creatures rarely venture as close to the Southern California mainland as they have this year.

Usually found near the more distant and remote Santa Rosa or San Miguel islands, humpbacks this year have been found feeding on shrimp-like krill and small fish as near to shore as Santa Cruz and Anacapa islands.

For nature lovers, it is a rare treat.

Consequently, it now takes only about a 2 1/2-hour boat ride from Ventura Harbor to see the whales, instead of the usual four hours.

For Ventura tourism officials, this year’s short hop to whale territory is presenting an even better selling point for summer tourism.

“A lot of people forget the world of marine life that’s right off the coastline of Ventura,” said Debbie Giles, spokeswoman for the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau. “It’s a nice bonus to anyone coming out to see the islands in the next couple of weeks.”

In addition to the whales, Tuesday’s boat ride to the islands offered views of dolphins, sea lions, minke whales and California brown pelicans.

Research biologists familiar with the whale population in the Santa Barbara Channel warn against reading too much into the humpbacks’ choice of feeding ground this summer.

Scientists are reluctant to blame El Nino weather patterns for the whales’ appearance closer to the Ventura coast. Instead, routine variations in water temperatures and currents have brought the food supply--and hence, the humpbacks--closer in, said research biologist John Calambokidis, who works for the nonprofit Olympia, Wash.-based Cascadia Research.

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The giant humpback’s half-hour display Tuesday did not come immediately.

After leaving Ventura Harbor at 8 a.m. on an Island Packers boat, it took three hours before those aboard saw their first whale--a young humpback.

And that was only after Capt. Glen Galbraith turned up the Vivaldi, specifically the Trio for Woodwinds and Concerto for Flute in A minor.

“Blue whales like Beethoven, gray whales--travelers--get trucking music and dolphins get rock ‘n’ roll,” Galbraith said.

The young whale kept its distance.

But soon after, two giants were spotted off the vessel’s bow.

Banned by law from moving in too close to the giant mammals, Galbraith let the boat drift about 100 yards away. It was the whale who chose to pay the special visit.

The whale came so close that watchers could see the large, wart-like bumps along the jaw. Each bump was connected to a cluster of nerves--the bumps, or “tubercles,” each grow a single hair that scientists suggest may act much like a cat’s whiskers, helping the whale detect small movements or vibrations in the water.

Less interesting, perhaps, was another phenomenon provided by the close encounter.

Bad whale breath.

Following each dramatic burst from the whale’s spout came a terrible odor, the result of nothing more than bad dental hygiene.

“That’s what your breath would smell like if you didn’t floss after eating a ton of krill every day,” Galbraith said.

When Cascadia Research began studying humpbacks in 1986, rarely would the whales come so near to research or whale-watching boats, let alone hang around.

But with whale watching replacing the whaling that was banned three decades ago, such encounters are becoming more common, Calambokidis said.

“This is basically the natural curiosity you’d expect to see in such an intelligent and social animal,” Calambokidis said. “Now they seem to happen every other trip.”

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The humpback’s population seems to be increasing as well. The organization, which identifies humpbacks by the detailed pigmentation markings on the underside of their tails, estimates the population is rising 5% to 6% a year, Calambokidis said.

The organization, which uses federal grant funds to study whale populations and behavior, estimates there are about 800 humpbacks summering off the California coast.

The whales return each winter from Mexico and Hawaii to the same region, and seem to move north up the coast of California, Oregon and Washington as the summer progresses, biologists say.

To those aboard the Vanguard, the reasoning behind the whales’ closer-than-normal appearance didn’t much matter.

They were there.

And that was all they needed to know.

“You feel very inspired when you see an animal of this size and majesty and stature,” Emmons, the Vanguard’s naturalist, said. “There’s definitely other intelligent life forms out there.”