Image: the dorsal fin of a large basking shark on the surface of the Santa Barbara Channel.
2024 07-03 SB Channel
As we traveled south, we moved very slowly in dense, zero visibility, fog until we reached The Lanes where the sun broke through for the rest of the trip. There was no wind, and the sea surface was mirror glass. A 5 foot long period rolling swell was hardly detectable as we stood on the deck enjoying today’s sightings: 2000 common dolphins, five giant blue whales, and one basking shark. Oh, did I mention that, once again, the water clarity was spectacular?
South of the kelp farm, again in zero visibility, we came upon a very small pod of dolphins. They were hard to see. Later, we would see megapods.
Captain Dave and the crew headed for the middle of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. We stopped in The Lanes when for a hotspot full of giant blue whales. We closely watched 5 giants…4 were together and the solo whale was about a mile away. One of the four was a very good tail fluker.
Suddenly, as we watched the blue whales, out of nowhere, a 20-foot basking shark made a friendly approach to the Condor Express, Albeit 15 feet or so below the surface. It came down the side of the boat at first, then passed under the bow. All this to place in that extreme water clarity that I mentioned earlier. (I personally have never had the good fortune to see a basking shark in clear water. See today’s photo for an example). It swam off and disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
Two large pods of dolphins caught our eyes about 2 miles to the west. We spent some quality time. Everyone had great looks.
On the way home, we ran into a megapod of highly acrobatic and boat-friendly dolphins. It was a great way to punctuate a spectacular summer trip.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and