2022 05-05 SB Coast
Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express found nice conditions for wildlife locating and viewing in the Santa Barbara Channel today. There was a high stratus layer with little to no wind. A small, 3-foot, long period swell passed through from the west. Sightings included: 5 humpback whales, 12 long-beaked common dolphins and 100 California sea lions.
A special morning charter took a school group up the coast, past Platform Holly, to Naples Reef. Here we closely watched a pair of humpback whales and a third one in the area. This was a hot spot full of sea lions, sea birds and a few dolphins, all feeding on a large surface aggregation of northern anchovies.
The public whale watch departed Santa Barbara Landing at noon. Dave took everyone even further west, past Napes Reef, to another hot spot several miles south of El Capitan. Again, a pair of whales were closely watched, and this spot, similar to the morning trip, was alive with feeding sea lions and birds. Early in this sighting, one of the whales rolled around and did some pectoral fin slapping.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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