2017 09-02 SB Channel
There is a heat wave going on in southern California and even the cool Santa Barbara Channel was under its grips. Hot, muggy, calm: that’s what the Condor Express found as it traversed the region in search of cetaceans. Sightings were very good: 8* humpback whales and 1,500 long-beaked common dolphins.
Captain Dave described the dolphin scene today as “there were dolphins around the boat all day long.” Oh, did I mention that clear, cobalt Santa Barbara blue underwater visibility? You could see layers of dolphins from the surface down many dozens of feet. We first ran to the eastern end of the Channel and located one extremely friendly humpback whale. The whale rolled around, swam under our hulls, and generally mugged us for quite a nice sighting.
Dave then laid down a search pattern for more large whales. Eventually we ended up to the west near the mid-Channel NOAA buoy. Here we closely watched 7 additional humpbacks, but there were *many more spouts all around the zone. It’s “quality” over “quantity,” isn’t it?
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express
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