2021 08-28 SB Channel
Calm seas and overcast skies prevailed all day until the sun broke through as we re-entered the harbor at 230p. Flat seas are nice for everyone and good for spotting cetaceans. Today we closely watched 12+ humpback whales, our friendly local 2 Minke whales and 3000 long-beaked common dolphins.
Three miles off Hope Ranch out local Minke whale greeting committee located us and spent time giving their fans great looks. This pair is phenomenal as it is relatively RARE for this typically solitary species to form long term pairs or larger groups. Then you add in their awesome natural boat-friendliness and we count our blessings!
Common dolphins were around all day and especially abundant at a hot zone that ran from about 8 miles to 12 miles off the harbor and well north of The Lanes. As is typical, group sizes ranged from a few dozen to many hundreds of individuals. Large feeding groups and their associated seabirds make happy whale hunting grounds and that’s what happened today. Things started with a trio of medium-sized adults that came back and forth to the Condor Express, additional single whales around the zone gave us our first 9 humpbacks. Many more spouts were seen in the near distance without binoculars.
We had barely started on our route back to the harbor when we watched three more whales.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com MarineBioPhotography.com
Comments