2018 05-26 SB Channel
It was a bright, sunny day in the Santa Barbara Channel today and a moderate breeze had seas whipped up just a bit. Sightings included two pairs of cetaceans: a pair of fin whales and a pair of humpback whales.
Our first sighting took place in The Lanes near Chinese Harbor on Santa Cruz Island. Here we encountered the same pair of fin whales that we reported on Thursday: a large adult whale with what might be a calf. Unfortunately, as we learned Thursday and saw again today, the adult whale is entangled in some kind of netting. The entanglement is around the head and mouth. Our own Captain Dave has a second job coordinating a local Santa Barbara entanglement team, which requires a monumental amount of time training and practicing for mammal rescues. He has entered this fin whale into the system and the rescue administrators are working with Dave to put together a possible disentanglement. We’ll keep you posted on this.
As Dave took the Condor Express away from the island and was slowly heading home with wind and waves around, a mother humpback and her calf were found. This pair was identified as the same two whales we saw on yesterday’s trip. Good looks were had by all.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
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