2020 08-14 Santa Rosa Island Blue skies, blue water, blue whales and more… Skies were sunny all day and seas were calm.  Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express returned to the “land of the giants” north of Santa Rosa Island again. Sightings included: 7+ giant blue whales, 1 hybrid fin/blue whale, 1000 short-beaked common dolphins and 600 … Read More

2020 08-13 Santa Rosa Island The leading edge of a subtropical storm (near Cabo San Lucas) brought wonderful warm blue skies dappled with those small puffs of clouds that made you feel like you were visiting Hawaii.  Seas were mill pond flat and glassy. Wonderful close looks for today included: 12+ giant blue whales, 1 hybrid fin/blue whales, 800 short-beaked … Read More

2020 08-12 Santa Rosa Island The large aggregation of blue whales persists! Captain Dave and his crew headed across the Santa Barbara Channel to the western portion of Santa Rosa Island to the same area where the giant blue whales were watched in great abundance yesterday. Despite conditions changing to feature fog and a bit of swell near the islands, … Read More

2020 08-11 Santa Rosa Island “Blues festival” in full gear: 30 giant blues watched. Captain Dave ran straight across the Santa Barbara Channel and took advantage of calm sea conditions to explore the land of the giants near beautiful Santa Rosa Island. The following report includes closely-watched encounters:  30+ giant blue whales, 1 fin whale and 500 long-beaked common dolphins. … Read More

2020 08-10 SB Channel The current population of giant blue whales in our area is distributed along an east-west line about 4 miles north of the islands. For the past week or so we have had fabulous times with the giants from the west end of Santa Cruz Island to the middle of Santa Rosa Island.  Captain Colton changed things … Read More

2020 08-09 SB Channel – Southwest The world’s largest gluttons gathered near beautiful Santa Rosa Island for yet another day of sub-surface feasting. Skies were clear and sunny most of the day, and seas were flat and calm. The calm water coupled with sunlight on the banquet grounds made for wonderful viewing of 2 different species of giant whales and … Read More

2020-08-08 SB Channel Southwest An Epic Adventure – Santa Rosa Island ! Skies became sunny soon after we rounded the harbor entrance buoy and said goodbye to all the California sea lions.  Once we were 4 or 5 miles out the moderately lumpy nearshore sea conditions completely flattened out. It was an epic adventure to Santa Rosa Island and the … Read More

2020 08-06 SB Channel Summer blues festival is tons of fun! The high marine layer stratus was with us most of the day today except out in the land of the giants near the western end of Santa Cruz Island. The cetacean hotspot featured blue skies, blue water and blue whales. Sightings included 6+ giant blue whales, 1500 long-beaked common … Read More

2020 08-05 SB Channel The fun continues in “the land of the giants.” The gray skies of the morning marine layer burned off around 1130am and brought bright sunny skies and moderate winds to the southern half of the Santa Barbara Channel. Captain Dave and his crew closely watched 10+ giant blue whales, 1000 long-beaked common dolphins and 500 short-beaked … Read More

2020 08-04 SB Channel Captain Dave returned to the land of the giants that I wrote about in yesterday’s whale report. This big hotspot is located south of The Lanes and off the western end of Santa Cruz Island…near the Painted Cave. Sightings today included: 15+ giant blue whales, 50 offshore bottlenose dolphins, and 800 long-beaked common dolphins. Skies had … Read More