2021 11-21 SB Channel – West
Skies were sunny and clear due to strong Santa Ana winds blowing to the south of Santa Barbara. The east wind and small west swell mixed the surface up a bit but subsided later in the trip. Sightings included: 2 humpback whales, 1 Minke whale and 2 coastal bottlenose dolphins.
Captain Devin and the crew stopped the boat abruptly near the harbor entrance buoy and turned to slowly follow a pair of coastal bottlenose dolphins. The sighting lasted for a brief 15 min, as everyone got great looks at these cetaceans very close to the beach.
Moving west, by and by, a friendly Minke located the Condor Express and made several close passes including a shallow crossing just beneath our twin hulls. Water clarity was good and it was a fun sight to look down as this small beast, the smallest baleen whale in our hemisphere, passed under.
Continuing to the far west Channel, we ultimately located a pair of humpback whales. It was the same mother humpback and her calf that we watched yesterday. The updated spelling of mom’s name is “Tiani.” “Tiani is known as a female from observation with a calf off Laguna Beach in May 2021” says Happywhale.com. The pair was showing long down times with equally long submarine travel distances on each dive.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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