2020 07-12 SB Channel It was sunny all day and the first part of the trip experienced calm seas, but the wind picked up as we approached Santa Cruz Island. Captain Colton and his crew reported watching: 2 Minke whales and 3500+ long-beaked common dolphins. Deckhand Austin located the first whale after announcing to the crew that he was feeling … Read More

2020 07-09 SB Channel – Far East Skies ranged from dense, low fog to high stratus, to areas of wonderful sunlight…all on flat, glassy seas.  Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express ran to the “far east,” which in our parlance is not China or Thailand, but Anacapa Island and Pedro Point, Santa Cruz Island. Sightings today included: … Read More

2020 07-07 SB Channel Some people have pet dogs that follow them around. Fewer people even have cats that do the same. Today, the Condor Express had two “pet” Minke whales. I’ll tell more below. Totals for the trip included: 3000 long-beaked common dolphins, 3 humpback whales and 2 Minke whales. Winds were up in the western Channel, so Captain … Read More

2020 07-06 SB Channel It was a pretty smooth day in the eastern Channel until the afternoon breeze arrived and then things got a little bumpy.  Some spray carried into the air. Nonetheless Captain Colton and the crew closely watched 2 humpback whales and 3500 long-beaked common dolphins.  As you probably deduced from the numbers, there were loads of dolphins … Read More

2020 07-05 SB Channel Captain Colton and his crew put together a fantastic trip full of cetaceans. In addition to watching 1 humpback whale, 1 giant blue whale, and 3000 common dolphins, the highlight of the trip was seeing 800+ offshore bottlenose dolphins. Seas were calm and glassy smooth. Except for a small fog patch on the way out, there … Read More

2020 07-04 SB Channel After our standard public whale watch, a second private excursion left the docks for a shorter time out in the Santa Barbara Channel. The day had a lot of dense, ground level fog with occasional patches of sun.  Seas were mostly glassy but for one windy period in the afternoon for a while. Totals for the … Read More

2020 07-03 SB Channel The beginning of July has shaped up to be a very rich and productive time for wildlife in the Channel. Today we watched 3000 long- beaked common dolphins, 75 California sea lions, 3humpback whales, 1 giant blue whale, and 25 Risso’s dolphins. Skies were sunny and seas were calm.  Today’s adventure moved completely across the Santa … Read More

2020 07-02 SB Channel Flat calm seas and sunny skies added to an “off the charts” day with 6 different cetacean species. Captain Dave and his team ran further west than usual (see course illustration) and  sightings included: 1000 long-beaked common dolphins, 500 short-beaked common dolphins, 10 coastal bottlenose dolphins, 20 Risso’s dolphins, 6 humpback whales and 1 fin whale. … Read More

2020 07-01 SB Channel Another great benefit of having a mile marine stratus layer all day is it cuts the surface glare and, if a wild animal chooses to approach the Condor Express, you can see the underwater view…assuming good water clarity. We had good water clarity and another mill pond glassy day under the thin low clouds. Captain Dave … Read More

2020 06-30 SB Channel Blue skies burned through the morning stratus early in the trip and seas were calm all day as Captain Dave and his crew worked the front side of Santa Cruz Island. Results of this course heading included 2000 long-beaked common dolphins, 1 fin whale, 2 humpback whales and 2 giant blue whales. Two distinct bands of … Read More