2020 03-17 SB Coast The local mountains were covered with a blanket of snow. The skies were mostly blue but with puffy clouds here and there from a storm that just left town.  Seas were calm and once we were offshore, the water was a clear Santa Barbara cobalt blue. We closely watched 7 Pacific gray whales on our single … Read More

2020 03-15 SB Coast Skies were over cast and seas were calm as we found ourselves between storms today, “The Ides of March.”  Great conditions allowed us to “settle our debts” with 5 gray whales (more in the distance) and 1000 long-beaked common dolphins. Captain Colton and the crew of the Condor Express watched all 5 whales as they migrated … Read More

2020 03-14 SB Channel Happy Pi Day to all! There was intermittent rain all day punctuated by short bursts of sun streaming down through the gaps. Two trips, noon and 3pm, left the docks and each had spectacular results.  The raw estimates included: 11+ humpback whales, 8 gray whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins. Per usual, the raw totals don’t … Read More

2020 03-13 SB Coast Light rain, drizzle and cloudy skies, alongside very calm seas, set the stage for some wonderful wildlife sightings, including: 2 Pacific gray whales, 250 long-beaked common dolphins and 2 humpback whales. As Captain Dave and his crew enjoyed the glassy coastal waters and light rain, the Condor Express went west and located our first whales near … Read More

2020 03-11 SB Coast All of the action took place within a 3 mile radius of Santa Barbara Harbor.  This was all from one, noon departure, unbelievable excursion and included:  7 gray whales (see additional info below), 1 humpback whale and 400 long-beaked common dolphins. Today’s epic adventure began with a bang. Just off Mesa Lane, and a few miles … Read More

2020 03-09 SB Coast We never traveled more than 3 miles off the shore today largely because the sharp eyes (“whale eyes”) of our crew Colton and Devin.  These two were able to put together a single epic 2 ½ hour trip that closely watched: 13 Pacific white-sided dolphins, 1 Minke whale, 1 humpback whale, 4 Pacific gray whales and … Read More

2020 03-08 SB Coast   Captain Colton and the crew of the Condor Express ran a single noon excursion today and closely watched: 4 gray whales and 500 long-beaked common dolphins.  Skies were mostly sunny and seas were glassy-smooth. Not far offshore from the harbor entrance a single gray whale was watched for a while as it surfaced infrequently but swam … Read More

2020 03-07 SB Coast Overcast skies with no wind and calm seas provided great conditions for Captain Colton and the crew of the Condor Express to locate and closely watch a plethora of cetaceans.  Sightings combined from our two trips today included 1000+ long-beaked common dolphins, 7 Pacific gray whales and 3 humpback whales. Several groups of dolphins were encountered, … Read More

2020 03-06 SB Coast We ran two coastal cruises today.  The first left the dock at 9am, the second at 12 noon. Totals for the day included: 2 humpback whales, 700 long-beaked common dolphins and 50 coastal bottlenose dolphins. Captain Dave and his highly-skilled crew took advantage of the situation and ran two nearly identical whale watching trips. Both trips … Read More

2020 03-04 SB Coast It was a pleasure to see such a nice group of future scientists (elementary school) “marching forth” out to sea and learning about oceanographic and biological research techniques first hand. This was a group educational charter, not a regular whale watch trip. Nevertheless, we did encounter some nice cetaceans, including: 250 long-beaked common dolphins, 3 gray … Read More