(Above: a serious mugging by a friendly humpback whale)
2022 11-20 SB Channel
Captain Devin, awesome whale spotter and “seeker-of-muggings,” and his team took advantage of pristine post-Santa Ana conditions (blue skies, calm seas, no wind) to put together another demonstration of their leadership skills. Sightings included 3 humpback whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins.
We watched 3 pods of dolphins: the first was 50 animals and only 2 miles off Hendry’s Beach. The second and third were at least 750 dolphins, and the third was part of a large ocean hot spot.
After the second dolphin pod observations, The Condor Express moved further south to an area in the NOAA East Channel Buoy vicinity. We spent 1 ½ hours here with a pair of extremely friendly adult humpback whales that mugged us for the entire time. In addition to working their fans attention on both sides of the boat, we saw lots of rolling around, swimming upside down, spy hops and heard a bunch of trumpet vocalizations. It was among our best muggings for the month (so far!).
Not long after leaving the friendly pair we found the aforementioned hot spot with loads of feeding dolphins and a quick look at another humpback that had been feeding sub-surface (our best hypothesis).
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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