Our old pal “Scarlet” the humpback whale paid us a visit

2017 05-03 SB Coast

We saw 6 gray whales, 6 bottlenose dolphins, and 2 humpback whales today.  It was a day with calm seas and morning fog that burned off quickly.  Sea lions were abundant, and 12 Pacific harbor seals were hauled-out on the bait barge.  Our old pal “Scarlet” the humpback whale paid us a visit and was one of the two seen.

9 am Our first gray whales were found around 930 am and consisted of a mother gray whale and her calf.  We had good looks as we followed this pair to the west.  Captain Dave then took the Condor Express out about 5 miles where two large, adult humpback whales were found moving east.  As previously mentioned, one of them was Scarlet. (NOTE: we’ve been seeing Scarlet for years and she is identified by a deep propeller scar across her back.  Unlike other prop scars we’ve seen, this one caused large, baseball sized carbuncles to form alongside the regular streaks from the spinning prop itself.  Later we saw a group of 4 bottlenose dolphins as we neared the harbor.

12 noon This excursion was a full boat load of mostly first grade kids, a few 6th graders, and their parents.  When we spotted a pair of bottlenose dolphins in the East Beach boat anchorage, the screams and applause went up from the crowd.  This great enthusiasm continued throughout the trip.  Dave ran west along the kelp for a while looking for gray whales.  Finding none, he then ran offshore to see what could be found in known productive waters.  This track ended with a quick look at oil and gas Platform “C,” a short run towards Carpenteria, then our first gray whale cow-calf pair of the trip.  We had great looks at this very mellow and cooperative pair before finding a second pair off the Coral Casino.

You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express

1. May 15th marks our return to our island whale watch trips that run daily from 10am to 230pm.