2020 09-19 SB Channel East
Epic summer/fall blue whale invasion persists!
Today’s foray into the land of the giants, several miles north of the eastern corner of beautiful Santa Cruz Island, did not disappoint. Unlike the wind and sea conditions nearer to the mainland coast, the whale hot spot had a bit of a breeze blowing with accompanying surface chop. It was nothing serious but Captain Dave and the crew worked extra hard to keep the Condor Express moving with the seas, not against them. Sightings included 5+ giant blue whales, 1 Minke whale and 250 long-beaked common dolphins.
A lone Minke whale was encountered just south of the Summerland oil rig line. We had nice looks during a few of its brief surface intervals. One interval was fairly close to the boat. And then the little baleen whale was off and we went on.
Two groups of dolphins located the boat, and both were further south of the rigs, before we passed Platform Habitat. The little cetaceans were feeding on the surface anchovy schools and surrounded by noisy, hungry seabirds. We stopped and enjoyed the food chain sights for a while.
Out in the land of the giants we found an area with 5 whales. Their surfacing was irregular and at one point we went quite a few minutes without seeing spouts. Finally, the 5th whale of the group came up and actually did a bit of logging…particularly interesting with breezy, choppy conditions. The sun was bright and water clarity was excellent, so this was a really nice encounter. The crew, using binoculars, saw many more spouts in the out-lying areas around our spot. Time and prevailing seas prevented larger numbers being closely watched.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
SPECIAL TRIP NOTICE
We still have spots left on our up-coming 8-hour whale watch! Sign up now before our reduced passenger load sells out. Whales of many species, several kinds of dolphins, sharks Mola mola, pelagic birds, gelatinous animals…who knows what Mother Nature has in store? Mark your calendar for Saturday September 26. The trip departs promptly at 8am and returns sometime after 4pm. Sign up at: www.condorexpress.com Hope to see you on board.
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