2018 12-09 SB Channel Captain Tasha and her crew encountered flat seas, mostly sunny skies and great “4-island” visibility. Sightings included 3+ humpback whales, 10 Dall’s porpoises and 750 long-beaked common dolphins. The looks were fantastic. On the way southbound towards Santa Cruz Island a single whale was located. It was a bit shy and moving slowly east. A group …
A view of “all four corners” of the Channel yields fantastic sightings
2018 12-08 SB Channel Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express reported flat seas and gorgeous weather again today. It was so clear, said Dave, that you could see “all four corners” of the Santa Barbara Channel (San Miguel to Anacapa, and Bony Ridge to Point Conception). Wow. Total sightings for the day today included 8+ humpback whales …
An epic cetacean-filled day.
2018 12-07 SB Channel Clear, sunny skies and calm seas prevailed once again in the beautiful Santa Barbara Channel. A massive feeding hotspot was located and resulted in close observations of 10+ humpback whales and 2500 long-beak common dolphins. It was an epic cetacean-filled day. All the action was located near the southbound shipping lanes near Prisoners Harbor on Santa …
Common and Risso’s dolphins plus plenty of humpback whales
2018 11-25 SB Channel The strong wind that blew through the channel the past few days subsided and we had a wonderful trip today. Totals for the trip include 1500 long-beaked common dolphins, 20 Risso’s dolphins, and 5 humpback whales. Captain Tasha and the crew of the Condor Express initially headed south west to a location that was very …
A juvenile whale stole the show.
2018 11-21 SB Channel The first “winter” storm of the season was on its way towards California and there was a little southeast chop and swell in advance of its arrival. Nonetheless, the well-honed navigational skills of Captain Dave and his crew were able to make the most out of the conditions and resulted in fabulous sightings of 5 humpback …
Five different species of cetaceans!
2018 11-18 SB Channel Captain Tasha and her crew racked-up an amazing array of cetaceans with awesome sightings of each species. Totals for the trip included 4 humpback whales, 400 long-beaked common dolphins, 15 inshore bottlenose dolphins, 35 Risso’s dolphins, and 30 Dall’s porpoise. Seas were calm and the water was very clear. Five different species of cetaceans were watched …
6 humpbacks: many of the whales were friendly
2018 11-17 SB Channel The Condor Express crew took advantage of pristine ocean conditions and located, then closely watched, 6+ humpback whales and 1000 long-beaked common dolphins. Many of the whales were friendly and came up to the boat to visit their fan club. The action began only 6 miles southwest of Santa Barbara Harbor as an area, rich with …
Humpback calf steals the show. Lots of other whales and dolphins.
2018 11-14 SB Channel On a completely “mill pond” flat and sunny day, the crew of the Condor Express located and closely watched 7+ humpback whales and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. Among the whales was Scarlet and what we now believe to be her not-newborn calf. The humpback calf stole the show. It took about 45 minutes for us to …
Great luck with very friendly humpbacks and dolphins.
2018 11-11 SB Channel For the most part it was sunny and warm in the Santa Barbara Channel today albeit moderately smoky. We had great luck with wildlife and closely watched six humpback whales and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. Not far outside the harbor, the first group of about 500 dolphins located us. The surface was mirror-glass, the water was …
All 4 northern Channel Islands were seen, plus whales and dolphins too.
2018 11-10 SB Channel The views afforded as we traversed the Santa Barbara Channel included seeing all 4 northern Channel Islands, a major smoke plume above Bony Ridge from the Malibu fire, and otherwise very calm seas with lots of mirror glass in the morning. Spouts from the 4 humpback whales we closely watched hung in the air like mist. …