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Newport Beach : December 27, 2023

Newport Coastal Adventure cruise

After seeing a news report on some orcas lingering off the Orange County coast, I booked a zodiac cruise with Newport Coastal Adventure in the hopes of finding them. Their general admission seats were sold out, so I got on a smaller private charter on my own. Ironically, the day before, the orcas had moved south and were spotted near La Jolla. We left the other tours behind and went exploring and found lots of dolphins, but no whales.

pIMG_7996.JPG	Their normal zodiac seats 15.	This one seats up to 6.	cIMG_8007.JPG
Captain Dave	Common Dolphin	pIMG_1207.JPG	pIMG_1208.JPG
pIMG_1213.JPG	We were doing 20+ kts and barely keeping up with these pelicans	pIMG_1238.JPG	pIMG_1255.JPG
Black-vented Shearwater	pIMG_1268.JPG	pIMG_8015.JPG	pIMG_8016.JPG
Royal Tern	South Laguna	pIMG_1320.JPG	pIMG_1325.JPG
North of Arch Beach	Kelp beds in front of Brooks Street Beach	pIMG_8054.JPG	pIMG_8088.JPG
pIMG_8090.JPG	pIMG_8102.JPG	pIMG_1366.JPG	pIMG_1371.JPG
pIMG_1376.JPG	pIMG_1388.JPG	pIMG_8120.JPG	A pirate ship!
pIMG_8181.JPG	pIMG_1414.JPG	Surf Scoter

Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve

Belted Kingfisher	pIMG_8224.JPG	pIMG_8227.JPG	pIMG_8228.JPG
pIMG_8240.JPG	pIMG_8253.JPG	pIMG_8263.JPG	pIMG_8265.JPG
Green-winged Teal	pIMG_8276.JPG	Lesser Yellowlegs (?)	pIMG_8291.JPG
pIMG_8298.JPG	pIMG_8310.JPG	pIMG_8315.JPG