Santa Barbara Channel Islands
Saturday, September 29, 2012 Trip Sightings Report:
We ran two oil seep tours in the Santa Barbara Channel Islands up west towards Platform Holly and Counter’s Point (home of the northbound Gray Whale census). Our whale watch trip was pushed to the afternoon. It was a fantastic day for southern California whale watching. Two humpback whales were spotted to the east and turned out to be a mother and her calf. The little calf performed a wild tail throw several times when we least expected it. Although there was a balmy breeze on the east Channel, the dolphins took full advantage by surfing the waves kicked up by the breeze. And the dolphins continue to cover the whole whale watching region right now. These dolphins are amazing: at one point, I was watching as a whole giant pod was obviously migrating west, but that did not stop them from turning around when a big wave came and catching a wild ride, even though it took them 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the migration. On the morning oil seep tours the natural gas bubbles were still at it, and a huge group of California sea lions were assembled next to the crew boat mooring can which made for some great photography. The common dolphins were up there to the west playing too.
Call 888-77WHALE or 805-882-0088 to book your whale trip.
Here are the species we watched closely today: 2 Humpback whales 4 Minke whale 1500 Common Dolphins
Bob Perry
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