Augie gets a Blue Whale Augie, a deck hand on the Condor Express, has many talents and this week one of them has really come to light. He has what we like to call “whale eyes.” And today his whale eyes spotted a giant blue whale. Now keep in mind this whale had down times running between 8 and 10 … Read More
Humpback whale, Minke and Island Action.
Coastal and west island action. Today we had great marine mammal sightings along the coast and again to the far west near Santa Rosa Island, with nothing to see in between. The day started off about a mile and a half outside the Santa Barbara Harbor entrance when Captain Dave decided to take a look-see at some birds and common … Read More
Tie dolphin score: Mysticetes 2 vs Odontocetes 2
Tie score: Mysticetes 2 vs Odontocetes 2. Although there were rumors of both Risso’s dolphins and Minke whales in the Channel today, we did not see either of those two species, and so the final score card was a tie. There was a light chop and breeze plus overcast skies as we left Santa Barbara Harbor for the mid Channel … Read More
More sun, more blue whales and humpback whales too.
It was mirror, mill pond glass on the Channel today and the sun came out after we ran south about an hour. We picked up several small pods of common dolphins as we passed through the north side and beyond the shipping lanes heading in the general direction of Santa Cruz Island. The sharp eyes of Captain Mat were aided … Read More
Blue skies, blue water and blue whales !
It was an afternoon trip, running from 1pm to 530pm. “Blue skies, blue water and blue whales”! Don’t let this fool you because just as the trip started and we were only a mile of less off the beach, we had a magical encounter with a humpback whale that came over and did tricks. It rolled on its back and … Read More
Another big day for humpbacks and blue whales
Captain Mat ran out to the humpback feeding grounds and located 10 of the beasts with more in the area. A juvenile humpback breached repeatedly, and there were tail throws plus other great behaviors. Then Mat moved over to the blue whales grounds and closely followed 5 blue whales. Again there were common dolphins throughout the trip, 3,000 or more, … Read More
Amazing abundance and diversity today including five blue whales
Captain Dave reports from the Condor Express that the following were closely observed: Six humpback whales including a cow-calf pair. The humpbacks were watched lunge feeding on the surface and many more humpbacks were seen in the near distance. Five blue whales were also watched in a different area of the Channel. There was another area rich with humpbacks as … Read More
Fog closes in and Condor Express sings the Blues
Blue Whale The “inaugural” cruise of the mighty Condor Express was run today. And the ship looks great…filled with new navigational electronics (navionics). She ran as good as always and it was a thrill to be back on board ! Now, fog is the subject of many famous blues songs. But I am not talking about songs. Even though it … Read More
Island Trip yields impressive cetaceans
After a few days of gale winds in the Channel, the Condor sailed out to the Islands today in search of beasts. Here’s the talley: 5 humpback whales 2 blue whales Amongst the humpback behavioral repertoire we had the good fortune to have one of them adopt the boat. It spy hopped and generally swam around introducing itself first hand … Read More
American Cetacean Society Special Trip – Special Whales
August 11, 2012 Daily Whale and Dolphin Report: Here are the species we watched closely today: 18 Blue Whales 7 Humpback Whale 2 Dall’s Porpoise 5,000 Common Dolphins Lots of sea lions Today’s whale counts are unusually high because, (a) it was a special all-day charter with the American Cetacean Society, and (b) there are tons of whales out there … Read More
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2