2021 07-07 SB Channel
A high marine layer stayed around all day with little to no wind. There were some small swells from the west to keep everyone interested. Sightings were tremendous: 5+ humpback whales, 3500 long-beaked common dolphins, 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins, 500 California sea lions and 1 dead Mylar balloon.
Five miles out the common dolphin encounters started and they persisted all day. There were particularly large herds on the feeding hot spots where the sea birds and sea lions had the bait gathered up.
Captain Colton took a southwesterly heading and along this line a large pod of highly aerial offshore bottlenose dolphins located the Condor Express. It was a nursery pod…full of animated juveniles!
From a point east of the NOAA buoy and into the lanes, the common dolphin pods were large and as we moved about 3 miles to the west we located the humpback whales. The first encounter was with a pair. One large adult and one (non-calf) juvenile were observed. Soon another large adult entered the zone. Sea lions and common dolphins were all around. These whales were travelling west.
A mile or two later a large adult whale was watched and it mugged the boat several times by repeatedly visiting its fans on the bow. On the way home a 5th whale was seen near the buoy with additional spouts in the distance.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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