2019 03-17 SB Coast
Once again magnificent weather and sea conditions prevailed in the Santa Barbara channel all day long. Captain Tasha and her crew ran three trips today resulted in the following closely observed animals: 9 humpback whales, 4 gray whales, and 1800 long-beaked common dolphins. “This is what it’s all about about!” says Captain Tasha.
At 9 AM we located one juvenile gray whale very close to the harbor entrance. It turned out to be extremely shy with long downtimes and a zigzag dive pattern. Turning out to deeper water we found first a single humpback whale and then a large pod of about 750 dolphins. Soon there after we had two more humpback whales. The dolphins and the umpbacks were located just south of Platform Habitat.
On the noon trip we encountered 2 humpback whales about 2 miles south of the harbor. After some really good looks we moved offshore and found an additional two humpback whales. These whales were all heading east. Finally a small pod of about 25 dolphins located the boat and rode our waves.
On the last trip of the day we found two humpback whales about 2 miles off Leadbetter Beach. Unfortunately these whales were being mobbed by a couple of private sailboat yachts. After the yachts passed far too close to the whales, the whales reacted by lobbing their tails, and then one performed quite an aggressive breach. The most aggravated whale was our friend “Rope”. We moved offshore and found three gray whales in a tight formation. They were wonderful whales to watch and spent most of their time on the surface.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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