Humpback whale antics
With very rough seas and high winds out a the Islands, Captain Eric steered a course for the eastern Santa Barbara Channel today in search of humpback whale and other marine mammals. He played with at least 2,000 common dolphins and then found one of the mother-calf pairs that we saw throughout the Fall season. Both mom and calf have white tails. And to be accurate, the “calf” is pretty big now, so we’re calling it a juvenile officially. Well, per usual, the juvenile humpback whale put on a show to end all shows. I should tell you first that there was never a down time longer than 30 seconds, and the anchovy schools were near the surface so both whales were surface lunge feeding.
Now on to the juvenile whale. This whale spy hopped with its mouth open wide. It slapped its pectoral flippers. It lobbed its tail. It breached. And what was most interesting perhaps was one behavior in which the juvenile was on its back, upside down, then flexed its entire tail section up towards its head, kind of like a human doing “leg lifts.” It was a spectacular display.
The Channel Island winds are supposed to subside, and the weekend should be fantastic. Who knows what species we’ll encounter?
Hope to see you on board.
Happy Holidays Bob Perry Condor Express
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