Killer whales lead the list of 6 different marine mammal species today. According to https://orcasoftheworld.wordpress.com Bigg’s killer whales were formerly known as ‘transients’. In 2012, a push was made to rename this type of killer whale in memory of Dr. Michael Bigg (1939–1990). Bigg’s killer whales range all along the west coast of North America, from California to Alaska. They … Read More
3 Different Dolphin Species, etc AND a nice Mako Shark!
3 Different Dolphin Species, etc AND a nice Make Shark! Although NOAA once again predicted doom and gloom for the western Channel, Captain Mat felt differently in his bones. We ran west in very calm seas and worked the island shelf break from western Santa Cruz Island to the western end of Santa Rosa Island in search of whales. The … Read More
Humpback whale “stepping stones.”
I think I’ll author a journal article entitled “Humpback whales as giant stepping stones to the Santa Barbara Channel Islands.” I’ve got a bit more data to collect and of course all that number crunching. But that is how things shaped up out there today. As Captain Dave and the crew pushed offshore, heading south towards Santa Cruz, the Condor … Read More
Humpback whales move close to shore !
Two surface lunge feeding humpback whales 7 humpback whales 2,000 common dolphins 1 minke whale (fleeting glimpse) Well, whale lovers, it did not take Captain Mat very long to locate humpback whales today. Due to his talent for smelling out whales out of a vast Pacific Ocean, all the whales we watched closely were within a half dozen or so … Read More