2022 07-23 SB Channel
Typical of the weather this week, an early marine layer broke to blue skies with light winds. Sightings were phenomenal. We closely watched 4 humpback whales, 4000 long-beaked common dolphins and 40 California sea lions.
We were not far offshore when the first (very small) pods of dolphins located the Condor Express. There were scattered foraging groups all day, with pod size increasing greatly out near The Lanes and the East Channel NOAA buoy. The larger, offshore, pods raised a lot of interest and were joined by sea bird masses and, in one case, a large mob of California sea lions…communal feeding!
We ran southwest past the buoy, into The Lanes and then back around the buoy, following the dolphin action. A large breach was spotted several miles away and we headed for it. Upon arrival, we saw 4 individual humpback whales, all large adult animals. Lots of common dolphins here, too. Two of the 4 set off on a trek away from us, and the remaining 2 joined-up and did some cooperative subsurface feeding. During the ups and downs associated with this, the duo made several close passes by the Condor Express. None of the whales today appeared to be individuals we saw yesterday or earlier this week.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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