2019 08-24 SB Channel Very Far West Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express located 6 humpback whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins on a run west past Gaviota Pass and Platform Heritage. This is an amazing 32-mile (each way) adventure that offered unlimited, spectacular views of the entire pristine Gaviota coastline. It’s unusual to find the wildlife …
Stunning views of the western Gaviota coast with lots of whales and dolphins too.
2019 08-23 SB Channel Far West The high stratus layer burned off and things got really nice around noon. Seas were relatively calm and just fine for locating and watching wildlife. Today we closely watched 8 humpback whales, 2 Minke whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins. Our travels today (as shown in the attached AIS chart from MarineTraffic.com) took us …
9 Humpbacks (some very active) and 2000 dolphins.
2019 08-22 SB Channel West Having seen spouts earlier in the week, Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express headed to the far west Channel and found copious wildlife in the Gaviota area. Closely watched species included 9 humpback whales and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. Once again the whales and dolphins were mixed together and feeding on northern …
A Minke, 6 humpbacks and thousands of dolphins too.
2019 08-21 SB Channel All the action was north of The Lanes where the seas were calm, the sun was shining and all the children were above average (apologies to Garrison Keillor). Totals for the trip included: 1 Minke whale, 6 humpback whales and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. Dolphins were around all day and mixed in with the feeding whales. …
4 Feeding humpbacks and 3000 Dolphins
2019 08-20 SB Channel The morning overcast marine layer quickly gave way to sunny skies in the Santa Barbara Channel. The skilled crew of the Condor Express, under the leadership of Captain Dave, negotiated a calm northern Channel and windy south to provide exceptional mammal sightings, including: 4+ humpback whales and 3,000 long-beaked common dolphins. This “negotiation” consisted of pushing …
Fantastic weather and seas; lots of great sightings.
2019 08-19 SB Channel Captain Colton and the crew of the Condor Express transected the entire Santa Barbara Channel, from the harbor to just north of Santa Rosa Island. Seas were ideal and the sun was shining all day. Sightings included: 2000 long-beaked common dolphins, 150 offshore bottlenose dolphins, and 1 humpback whale. I know you’ve read this somewhere before: …
Summer conditions and great wildlife sightings
2019 08-18 SB Channel Great conditions with calm seas and sunny skies set the stage for a unique an interesting day of wildlife sightings. Totals for the day include: 3+ humpback whales (live), 2000 common dolphins (both short- and long-beaked were seen today), 1 deceased humpback calf, and 1 white shark. Not far south of Santa Barbara Harbor we re-located …
Kelping humpbacks and hundreds of dolphins.
2019 08-17 SB Channel A morning stratus layer was quickly replaced by blue and sunny skies as we approached the hot spot. Seas were calm all day. We had great looks at 3 humpback whales and at least 1500 long-beaked common dolphins. Hundreds of dolphins were around all day and everywhere we went. Of course they came to the Condor …
Gloriously glassy smooth surface with thousands of dolphins and humpbacks too.
2019 08-15 SB Channel Skies were covered by a marine stratus layer until we found some sun out near the world-famous Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island. Seas were calm and, in spots, very glassy. Sightings for the trip included 3 live humpback whales, 3000 long-beaked common dolphins and, 1 deceased humpback whale calf. We followed a pair of adult …
