2021 09-21 SB Channel
Seas were very calm but…it was a doosie of foggy day in the Channel. Captain Dave and his crew and his radar transected the midriff of the Santa Barbara Channel. The visibility ranged from a maximum ¾ mile near The Buoy, and a few random sunny (“sucker hole”) patches at Santa Cruz Island, to absolutely zero everywhere else. Sightings for the day included: 1 humpback whale and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. The crew also retrieved 5 deflated helium Mylar balloons from the ocean surface.
After getting some good looks and spending time with a single humpback whale near the NOAA East Channel Buoy, the Condor Express moved south to visit beautiful Santa Cruz Island. We toured the towering sea cliffs, saw the many grottos and small harbors, and also saw the famous Painted Cave, the longest sea cave in the world.
After visiting the Island, common dolphins were around in both large and small pods, particularly in The Lanes. They surfed our bow, side and stern waves…in the fog. At this point, as previously mentioned, the lateral visibility dropped to near zero and stayed that way for our trip back to Santa Barbara Harbor.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
After having such wonderful sights further offshore (we were several miles south of San Miguel Island at one point) on our special 8-hour whale watch last month, Captain Dave is going to do it again! We’ll have plenty to time to explore every nook and cranny known to cetaceans and look for pelagic birds along the way.
Make your reservations now: Saturday, September 25 – 8am to 4pm
https://condorexpress.whalewatchreservations.com/cexvouchers/user.php?trip_id=775189
phone: 888-77WHALE or 805-882-0088
My report from the August trip is here:
All day trip with killer whales etc etc
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