Image: A surface lunge-feeding giant blue whale. Baleen in the upper jaw is seen on the bottom because the whale is flipped upside down. The large expanded lower jaw is on top.
2024 08-07 SB Channel
It was foggy in the channel until late in the trip when we were on our way home. The fog became very dense with zero visibility when we were near the blue whale hotspot. Seas were calm. Although there were at least 25 giant blue whales, we closely watched 18. We also encountered 600 common dolphins.
Dolphin pods were smaller and fewer today. Our first sighting was a very small pod, about 1 mile out from the harbor. As we reached the lanes, pod sizes increased to the low 100s. There were not many dolphins around the blue whale feeding area, but then again, dolphins don’t eat much krill.
The blue whales moved about 4 miles north of their location yesterday. In the fog, Captain Dave and the crew followed whale footprints on the surface until they found a single giant blue whale. The rest of the beasts were all around. The dense fog barely lifted just enough for us to see the spouts, and find the whales.
During our sighting, we noticed activity along a current break (aka, a current line, a slick, or better yet, an oceanic front). Fronts create visible, defined lines on the ocean surface. They are caused when water masses either collide, or move away from each other. This, in turn, transports small objects on the surface or water column nearby, such as plankton, (in this case krill) to be concentrated, thus creating a bonanza for hungry blue whales.
Some of the whales were side-lunging (such as you see in today’s photographic example). Others were shooting directly vertical. It was definitely a NatGeo spectacular scene.
The ride home was sunny, and we passed a few more small pods of common dolphins.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and