2021 04-10 SB CHANNEL
Skies were mostly sunny during both the 9a and 12n public whale watching trips, with little to no wind. The overnight gales once again left us a residual bump on the water coming down the Channel from the west. Nevertheless, Captain Colton and his crew located 9 gray whales, 3+ humpback whales, 25 coastal bottlenose dolphins and 100 California sea lions.
Just after 9a our old friend Auggie called from the cliffs on Shoreline Drive and reported whales in the area. Soon thereafter, sure enough, we found a single juvenile gray whale and followed up west to More Mesa. As we watched this whale a pod of about 10 dolphins came over for a visit. Colton then turned the Condor Express offshore about 4 miles where we had the good fortune of watching a single adult humpback whale breach a couple of times.
At noon we found three gray whales outside the harbor entrance buoy. Two of them were a mother-calf pair. We stayed with the pair and watched the little gray zig-zag around including some deep forays into the coastal kelp forest. After leaving the grays at More Mesa we headed offshore again and soon found a good humpback to watch (with additional spouts in the vicinity). The humpback was surrounded by an entourage of California sea lions with aerial support from countless hungry sea birds. On the way home we located yet another gray whale mom and calf. Again we had wonderful looks at the calf which, on at least one occasion, rolled on its side, lifted its head and stuck its eye out of the water. During this sighting another pod of 15 or so bottlenose came by and interacted for quite a while with the gray whales.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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