Image: a giant blue whale is seen spouting in the cobalt blue waters of the Santa Barbara channel. I took this photo a few years ago.
2024 06-04 SB Channel
Captain Eddy and the crew found overcast skies in the morning that quickly broke to bright sunny skies as we got near the east end of Santa Cruz Island. The sea surface was glassy. Total sightings for the day included: 4 humpback whales, 1 giant blue whale, 75 common dolphins, and 15 California lions. In addition, the crew picked up 2 deflated, floating, Mylar balloons from the ocean surface.
The first stop on our southwesterly course was to visit a spread-out pod of common dolphins. For the first time in a couple of days, the animals were friendly and came to the boat, riding our bow, side, and stern waves. We spent about half an hour with them.
We crossed The Channel and entered an area just south of The Lanes near the east end of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. We saw 2 humpback whales, a mother with her calf. The pair were doing a lot of logging on the mirror glass surface, at times they drifted close to the Condor Express for some special looks. Soon another large adult joined the pair. As we pulled away to take a look at a tall spout half a mile away, we passed a fourth humpback whale.
As you probably guessed, the tall spout belonged to a giant blue whale. The beast had 11 minute down times. We watched it in the clear water through three or four dive cycles. A nice group of California sea lions rafted nearby.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and