2020 09-27 SB Channel East
There was plenty of gloomy low-hanging stratus, but no ground-level fog. The clouds gave way to very blue skies and bright warm sun just before noon. Seas were oily glass smooth all day long, and that big westerly ground swell we had the past few days dropped to gentle small rollers. Sighting today included: 7 giant blue whales, 700 long-beaked common dolphins, 200 short-beaked common dolphins, and 1 fin whale (suspected). “Suspected” means the whale popped up in the near distance twice and we’re basing our guess on what we saw.
Most of the common dolphins that visited the Condor Express were of the long-beaked species. The first group was only 20 minutes outside the harbor in the morning, and another, larger group was seen later in the afternoon during the giant blue whale sightings. During the late morning, before we started seeing the giants, a medium-sized pod of very active short-beaks came by.
One of our passengers, a junior naturalist named Rhett, actually spotted and called-out the first blue whale spouts in the distance. This lad has some wonderful eyesight and concentration. The first group of giants consisted of 4 individuals. This was in the bright sun with glassy seas. An hour later we found 2 more, and ½ hour after that a final, solo whale was observed. Today’s whales showed us a lot of fluking and that is always fun!
More than half-way home, several people saw a dark whale at a great distance. It came up quickly twice. Captain Colton believed it was a fin whale, but in truth, we never saw it again and this is not recorded as a “closely watched” sighting.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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