2020 09-08 SB Channel Far East
The normal marine stratus layer had a little bit of amber color to it from distant wildfires. Seas were calm and glassy all day. Sightings were amazing: 6+ giant blue whales, 1 Minke whale and 3000 long-beaked common dolphins were closely watched today.
Small feeding pods of common dolphins intercepted the Condor Express a few miles outside the harbor. They were surface feeding and accompanied by lots of hungry, often noisy, sea birds. We’d see more and more dolphins throughout the Channel until we returned home.
The land of the giant blue whales has not moved much for the past week, and Captain Dave took us back to this amazing hot spot north of the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island. We watched an initial 3 giants, then 3 more giants nearby. Even more spouts were seen in binocular range. The glassy surface made mirror reflections of the blue whale bodies.
In addition to the numerous dolphin encounters on the way home, we also interacted with a lone Minke whale. This might possibly be the same Minke individual that I wrote about on August 30th. At least its’ boat-curiosity was very similar and everyone got spectacular whole-body looks at this very special small baleen whale. (See photo above from Aug 30th )
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
Comments