2021 09-22 SB Channel
Hallelujah, the fog lifted almost immediately to high stratus. This high gray layer dispersed by noon and it was blue skies and bright sunshine thereafter! A fresh breeze and moderate surface chop kept things nautical and made for wonderful humpback whale (10 recorded) and long-beaked common dolphin (3,000 seen) viewing. Additionally, the crew removed 2 deadly, deflated, formerly helium-filled balloons from the ocean surface.
Captain Dave and the crew took a southerly course heading to minimize the aforementioned wind, and located our first whales and dolphins on the edge of the northbound commercial shipping lanes, directly north of Diablo Point. Among the hundreds of dolphins we found 4 individual whales. All the whales were feeding subsurface and moving west, showing their tail flukes regularly. One individual did some repetitive chin-slapping (example: see today’s featured image).
Moving slowly west and into the weather, we found another hot spot south west of the NOAA East Channel Buoy. Six whales were found amidst a thousand or so dolphins. Again, feeding and showing their flukes were the main attractions. Great to see so many whales in the bright sunshine!
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
After having such wonderful sights further offshore (we were several miles south of San Miguel Island at one point) on our special 8-hour whale watch last month, Captain Dave is going to do it again! We’ll have plenty to time to explore every nook and cranny known to cetaceans and look for pelagic birds along the way.
Make your reservations now: Saturday, September 25 – 8am to 4pm
My report from the August trip is here:
All day trip with killer whales etc etc
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