9am trip was the first of the day, with overcast but great conditions on the ocean: not a breath of wind. It took us a bit to find the animals since we were the first boat out. Finally found about 300 common dolphin three miles off North Laguna Beach. Then we headed in to shore to look for Gray Whales, finding a cow/calf pair at Emerald Bay. These were really special! Both the mom and baby spyhopped, the baby opening its mouth displaying baleen. Then mom jumped three times! At 11:30 we returned to find these whales at the north end of Crystal Cove, and watched them until the Balboa Pier. We also saw two more pairs of cow/calf gray whales to round out the second trip!
