2018 06-18 SB Channel
You may have heard this before: skies were blue, water was blue, and the whales were blue. When Captain Dave and his crew headed for the Santa Cruz Island hot spot, he had no idea the he would be closely watching 19 blue whales and 500 long-beaked common dolphins. Per usual, there were many more whales all around us in the distance. Although seas were calm and there was no swell coming down the Santa Barbara Channel, it was refreshingly windy with white caps at the island.
Rather than produce a narrative of our sightings minute-to-minute, let me just summarize. We saw common dolphins and blue whales. The dolphins were about 3 miles of Santa Barbara Harbor and were spread out over a mile or so of water. The blue whales today were abundant and active. There were whales north, south, east and west of us. We were surrounded by whales, near and far, for the entire time we were on the grounds. The fresh breeze provided additional drama by whipping up the spout spray from these beasts. The bright sun made the sighting, and whale photography, fantastic.
Whales appeared alone, in pairs, in trios, quadpods, and, on more than one occasion, five were up and around us at the same time. Many swam side-by-side and their wind-blown spouts inter-twined in space. It seemed to us that an inordinate number of blue whales fluked-up today…always a bonus.
I personally rank today among the top 5 or 10 blue whale trips I’ve ever been on. You are urged, once again, to get out here before the whales eat up all the sub-surface krill and change locations.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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