Snowy Splendor

Tom Kenney · Post by **Tom Kenney** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:23 am

I went with extended family on a whale watching cruise from Marina Del Rey this past Sunday, which ended up being mostly a dolphin watching cruise. Never did see any whales, but the morning group did (we were afternoon).

I did manage to snap some neat shots. The first two are even technically 'on-topic' for the forum...The San Gabriels, viewed from a nice perspective. Shot 1 is from Dockweiler Beach, and shot 2 is from the main channel at Marina Del Rey as we returned from our '3 hour cruise'. The second shot contains a couple neat surprises if you zoom in to the full-size version.

http://www.pbase.com/thomasjkenney/imag ... 7/original

www.pbase.com/thomasjkenney/image/164971006/original

Next is the Frank Gehry designed yacht 'Foggy':

www.pbase.com/thomasjkenney/image/164971008/original

Last, some fauna:

www.pbase.com/thomasjkenney/image/164971009/original

www.pbase.com/thomasjkenney/image/164971010/original

Post by **Sean** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:44 am

Great pics! Thanks. Do you feed the dolphins on these trips?

Tom Kenney · Post by **Tom Kenney** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:25 pm

Thanks!

No, we didn't feed them. The spotter just watches for 'spalshy-splashy' areas, or spots where many birds are fishing (pelicans, cormorants, etc). We lucked out and wound up in a pod of a couple hundred dolphins. IIRC, these are the smaller common dolphin. Most were about 1.5M long, and there were many babies in the group.

BTW, messed up the captions for the first 2 pics...fixed that.

Post by **HikeUp** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:01 pm

What are the surprises in the 2nd picture? I see a blimp and the mountains.

The 3rd picture has a weird looking critter on a pole at the center of the pic. wtf?

Tom Kenney · Post by **Tom Kenney** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:01 pm

@HikeUp:

Yeah, the blimp was one, the other is you can clearly see the Mt. Wilson Toll Road. Showing my age here...there was a time when a blimp sighting was kinda special, and seeing the mountains from the beach in clear detail likewise.

Have no freakin' idea what that stuffed critter is. I'm guessing it's some sort of mascot for the hoist operation? Maybe a 'safety flag' to prevent accidental impalement on the pole?

Post by **HikeUp** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:26 pm

gotcha