Image: A mother Risso’s dolphin with her young calf.
2024 11-22 SB Channel
Captain Eddy and the crew ran across The Channel to a point slightly north of Prisoner’s Harbor on beautiful Santa Cruz Island. Skies were sunny all day and although seas were generally calm, there was a long-period west swell and northeast winds which were strong near The Island. Sightings included: 2 Minke whales, 10 Risso’s dolphins and 3 humpback whales.
We slowed to watch a wonderful pair of Minke whales just before we reached The Kelp Farm. We had good looks and the duo surfaced within visual range multiple times before we continued south.
Near Prisoner’s Harbor a pod of Risso’s dolphins located the Condor Express. There were several cow-calf pairs in the pod…always great to watch. (See today’s photo for an example). Things were a bit choppy from the northeast winds, so Captain Eddy and the crew put it astern and ran west northwest into the separation zone between The Lanes. Our first humpback was watched at this point. It was a large adult and was taking long, 10-minute+ dives. Additional spouts nearby caught our attention.
Near the NOAA East Channel Buoy, we found a pair of whales. They immediately approached the boat and proceeded to mug us for the duration of our stay in the area. As we were running a bit late, we slowly left this friendly pair of big adult humpbacks behind.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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