Image: A pair of blue whales in the Santa Barbara Channel.
2024 08–11 SB Channel
Captain Eddy and the crew reported clear skies all the way across The Channel wuth patches of fog in the whale zone. There was a very light chop on the water. Sightings for the day included: 15 giant blue whales (we closely watched 10) and 1500 common dolphins.
Just a mile off of Ledbetter we stopped to watch a small pod of dolphins that were actively feeding on the surface. We could watch their upside down bodies track anchovies and separate them from the school. In the mid-channel we found a megapod of highly acrobatic dolphins. There was a lot of leaping, high flying, and belly flops. From that point there were scattered smaller pods all day.
We left the NOAA Buoy far behind and were approaching the outer islands when a blue whale popped up close to the boat. It swam along side for two breaths, then dove. Everyone had wonderful looks. Nearby there were 2 more giants. As we looked around, at that point, you could see spouts everywhere. We took our time and closely watched 10
giants. Three different blues kicked-up their tail flukes for their deeper dives very close to the boat. At one point, we thought we saw a single sideways lunge-feeding episode in the distance.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and