2022 06-25 SB Channel
It was overcast during most of the trip, but sunny spots appeared here and there at Santa Rosa Island. On the way home, the skies cleared about 5 miles out from Santa Barbara Harbor. Today we closely watched 3 humpback whales, 12 California sea lions and at least 2000 long-beaked common dolphins.
Our first dolphins were 8 miles outside the harbor in super duper glassy water. It was a small pod, but just 7 minutes later, to the south, we found a widely-scattered mega pod with several thousand individuals…again the glassy seas were exceptional for dolphin viewing. As we left the long visit with these wonderful dolphins, a small group of California sea lions passed by.
About 30 min after the dolphins and seal lions, a passenger/friend, Dan, spotted the first of our 3 humpbacks. This pesky knobby-headed beast had long dive times during which it swam away from us about a mile each time. We moved further west paralleling Santa Rosa. 45 minutes after that, Captain Dave found another humpback with shorter dive intervals. Out of no where this animal did a quick sideways surface lunge! It also put up a nice tail fluke ID shot for us.
On the way home we passed a third whale about 6 miles from the harbor, but we were already 45 minutes late.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and www.CondorExpressPhotos.com