Image: surface lunge feeding in a birdnado: the Santa Barbara Channel.
2024 11-07 SB Channel
Skies were clear and sunny except for some patches of smoke near Santa Cruz Island from the Ventura and Camarillo fire. Seas were generally calm with a small wind chop kicked up by the Santa Ana winds in the eastern Channel. Sightings today were excellent: 1200 common dolphins and 12 humpback whales.
The action today took place south and east of The Kelp Farm. Dolphins were encountered just south of The Farm, mostly small groups of a couple of hundred each. We moved south east and soon found an area with active birdnados. We observed dolphins and 6 whales in the area. There was quite a bit of surface lunge feeding going on by the whales. Always an awesome spectacle! (See today's photo for an example).
After a while, we moved south a little further to find a pair of whales, and south of that we watched 4 more whales.
There are still lots of humpbacks around The Channel that have not yet left for the southern mating and calving grounds.
On the way home, Captain Dave slowed down and we took a close look at Platform Charlie and we heard a little history of the petroleum industry in The Channel.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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