Image: a giant blue whale exhibits “racing” behavior in the Santa Barbara Channel.
2024 07-02 SB Channel
Captain Eddy and the crew ran to the West End of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. Skies were overcast with dense fog in spots. Seas were calm and glassy. Closely watched animals today: 4000 common dolphins, 7+ giant blue whales and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
A small, widely dispersed pod of common dolphins was observed about 3 miles off the beach as we headed south. This first pod had quite a few calves. Later, in The Lanes, we’d spend some quality time with a megapod with a couple thousand common dolphins. Even more dolphins were around the giant blue whales. At times, it looked like the whales were following the dolphin herd.
Our first 2 blue whales were the most involved with the dolphins. These whales had very short dive times and long surface intervals. As we watched, a third whale came into the area and everyone had good looks.
As we slowly left the area, and, at a safe distance increased our speed, a rather unusual event took place. The third whale apparently left the hot spot and was actually racing alongside the Condor Express! Whoa! Blue whales are known to suddenly take off on a high-speed run, a behavior known as racing (See today’s photo for an example). I personally have never seen a giant blue get into a race with one of the fastest whale watch boats in the fleet!
Later, an area with at least 8 more blue whales allowed us to closely watch 4 more beasts. Great tail fluking with this bunch.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and