"We see the whales migrate once in a while, but you have to catch them. 

 They are at a distance." 



The following comment comes from Platform Hondo: 



"When the big boats come up to the platfonn the sea lions leave for 

 awhile, but they come back soon" 



6.3.2 Results from Sighting Cards 



The computer output from the analysis of the sighting cards from the pilot 

 program is shown in one of the computer printout sheets. Only 10 sighting 

 cards were returned in the pilot program. Unfortunately, in most of the cases 

 there were not enough boxes checked for an identification of the marine mammal 

 to be made. Consequently, the computer analysis did not yield much useful 

 information. 



The one identification the program did make was of a right whale. This is 

 probably a misidentification since right whales are \/ery rare in southern 

 California. The problem is that some of the characteristics on the sighting 

 card call for subjective determinations on the part of the observer (i.e., 

 broad and rounded versus blunt and rounded). If a large number of cards are 

 collected, these problems should be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data. 

 When there are just a few cards, analysis by scientists, rather than computer, 

 will probably yield more useful information. 



Three of the seven workers who filled out cards from Platform Emmy saw gray 

 whales. Two of the whales were seen at 1100 (on different days) and one worker 

 did not specify the time of his observation. One whale was 150 yards from the 

 platform, one was 300 yards, and one worker did not specify. Estimates of 

 noise at the time of observation ranged from 3 to 5 on a scale of 10. Two of 

 the whales were shoreward of the platfonn and one was seaward. Two of the 

 whales were traveling downcoast and one was going upcoast. In no case did the 

 whales change direction while the worker was watching. Two of the workers saw 

 single whales and one saw a pair. None of the whales showed their flukes. 

 One whale dived a lot and milled around in the same area. 



B-89 ( r-Jrp 



