Image: a pair of sleepy humpback whales logging on a late summer afternoon.
2024 09–29 SB Channel
Once again, the ocean surface was calm and glassy smooth. Skies were overcast in the morning, and then the sun broke out. There were Ideal conditions for finding and watching wildlife. Sightings for the day included: 4000 common dolphins and 9+ humpback whales.
Less than 1 mile off Ledbetter Beach, we found a pair of humpback whales logging on the surface (See today’s photo for an example of logging). While it is certainly nice to find the giants so close to home, they were not very active, so Captain Danny and the crew moved offshore. Just north of the Kelp Farm, a pod of 500 dolphins located the Condor Express and everybody had great looks.
Two miles south of The Farm, we found a true mega pod containing at least 1500 dolphins. They were a bit spread out and very actively feeding on numerous surface northern anchovy bait balls. Always great to see! We continued south.
By far the best action of the day was just a bit northeast of The Buoy. Things got started when we found two pairs and one individual humpback (with more spouts in the same general area). The first pair had been observed breaching in the distance, so we went to them first. Upon arrival, the pair mugged the Condor Express for a solid half an hour. About 2 miles further south we found another pair that were very friendly and made a couple of close passes
The final whale was nearby and it was breaching twice in the distance before coming over and getting friendly. Before we left to go home, there was another mega pod of about 1500 dolphins
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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