2018 02-21 SB Coast – It was breezy again today in the Santa Barbara Channel. There was not much swell and Crystal clear skies. Total sightings for the day included two gray whales.
We left Santa Barbara Harbor at 9 AM. By 9:15AM I got lucky and had spotted the first of the two whales off Hendry’s Beach. We followed this juvenile for a while as it swam both inside as well as outside the kelp line. Before long, Tasha had located a second whale, another juvenile gray.
We the first whale was heading northbound along the coast, strangely the second whale turned out to be a south-bounder. The two passed, going in opposite directions, within a few hundred yards of each other, with not so much as a hello (that we could detect, anyway).
After some good sightings, Dave turned away from the northbound whale and followed the southbound whale back towards the harbor. At one point, it surfaced directly in front of the boat so that we could look right down its nostrils and see it blow.
David next turned the boat out into deeper water searching for humpback whales or dolphins. We saw numerous spots of bird activity as we approach the oil rigs. However, it turned out to be just birds…there were no whales feeding and no dolphins feeding. Dave ended up the trip with a nice visit to Platform Hillhouse. Dave gave a nice discussion regarding the offshore oil rigs in the Channel before we got back into the harbor.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express
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