2022 09-02-SB Channel
Skies were gloriously blue and sunny. Seas were calm with a little breeze offshore. Captain Dave and the crew took the Condor Express to the southwest as far as The Lanes. Sightings were great, including: 7 humpback whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins. One floating, deflated, released Mylar balloon was retrieved from the ocean surface to prevent harming marine animals.
The action started about 5 miles south of Goleta with small groups of dolphins that grew larger and became actively feeding pods offshore. Lots of predatory marine birds were in on the offshore action.
Further south, and among the dolphin pods, we found a single sub-adult humpback to start off the whale portion of the trip. It was feeding subsurface and did not fluke-up on its terminal dives. Nearby there were additional humpbacks…three pairs! Pair #1 made a couple of close approaches. Pairs #2 and #3 were in the same general area, but away from Pair #1. The two later pairs did some lob-tailing, and the third duo also made some nice, close passes.
Nice to see the humpbacks return to the hood.
On the way home, more dolphins including a megapod.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com