Image: Lunge-feeding humpback whale.
2023 04-14 SB Coast
We found amazing quantities of whales and dolphins today. Seas were calm and there was no wind until late in the afternoon. Sightings included: 32 coastal bottlenose dolphins, 1 humpback whale and 14 gray whales.
During the morning excursion the high stratus burned to blue skies. We watched 15 bottlenose dolphins near Leadbetter, followed by 2 gray whales and 6 more dolphins. Moving west, past Coal Oil Point, we watched a single and somewhat shy juvenile gray whale. The morning sightings ended with another gray whale, a sub-adult that was much easier to watch.
The noon trip got started with 6 grays near the lighthouse. It was 3 moms with their calves. All were in very shallow water, perhaps only 10 or 15 feet deep…a lot of rolling around attracted 8 bottlenose dolphins. The two species interacted for a while. Perhaps all had “spring fever?”
As we moved west on the afternoon adventure, we were discovered by 2 bottlenose dolphin mothers with their calves. Soon after that we followed 2 more gray whale mother-calf pairs from Hope Ranch to Goleta Bay. A disturbance in the water led us to a spot south of UCSB where we watched a large adult humpback whales for a while as it appeared to feed sub-surface. Then, surprising everyone, the beast broke the surface with a giant vertical lunge on a tight school of northern anchovies. Its ventral pleats were facing the Condor Express and were fully extended.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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