Image: a humpback whale kelping!
2024 05–10 SB Channel
The ocean surface was perfectly glassy today with no wind or swell. These kinds of conditions sometimes seem to make the humpback whales frisky. On the other hand there was a very thick, low-hanging marine layer that kept things gray and cool all day. It did not completely close down lateral visibility, and our sightings for today included: 2000 common dolphins, 5 humpback whales, and 1 Minke whale. Two Mylar balloons that were removed from the ocean environment.
We followed the marine life that began just 2 miles off Ledbetter Beach, and we ran southwest until we ended up in The Lanes adjacent to Carrington point, Santa Rosa Island. It was off Ledbetter that the common dolphins appeared and more pods were seen throughout the day.
As we moved southwest, we would eventually watch five individual humpback whales, separated by a mile or two. For purposes of discussion I shall talk about them in numerical order until we end up in the aforementioned Lanes, across from Carrington.
The one thing that all five whales had in common was kelping. It was a glassy day and there was lots of detached floating a giant kelp on the surface especially along the front lines where water masses either converge or diverge. The whales took advantage of the kelp to exercise, play, and possibly nourish their skin, which we call kelping. (Giant kelp is one of the few that algae produces lubricating mucus).
Whale 1 - kelping, rolling upside down, draping kelp on its head and its tail. Whale 2 - similarly kelping. Whale 3 - kelping. Whale 4 - just some quick looks because we were running out of time. We turned around and started moving southeast towards the harbor. Whale 5 - kelping actively on an oceanic front.
Note: between whale number one and whale number two we got a couple of great looks at a large Minke whale.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
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