3 Gray Whales and Excellent Cetacean Diversity Again the calm seas and excellent weather made whale finding and whale watching a dream come true. Today the Condor Express located and watched three individual gray whales: one mid-Channel, one on the west end of Santa Cruz Island, and the third a bit east of the famous Painted Cave. In addition to … Read More
Calm seas result in gray whale mating.
Calm seas result in gray whales mating. The trip across the Santa Barbara Channel was smooth as silk today and we were lucky today to see gray whale mating. A few seabirds such as phalaropes and shearwaters were observed mostly resting on the surface. Later a northern fulmar sitting on the glassy surface would approach the Condor Express as we … Read More
2 humpback whales – both mug the boat !
Captain Dave had his “A game” on today as it was obvious the humpback whales were very attracted to the Condor Express. There were two humpback whale sighted and both of them made friendly approaches to the boat and stayed around for quite a while going eyeball to eyeball with the humans. The first whale to mug the boat was … 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
Blue Whale Watching in February ??? Whaaaa?
Early blue whale watching in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Watching Report February 8, 2013 1 blue whale 2 Minke whales 700+ common dolphins Captain Mat and the Condor Express treated us to some very early blue whale watching today in the eastern Santa Barbara Channel today. That’s right. This is the earliest sighting of a blue Whale that anyone … Read More
Gray Whales – the end of the southbound migration is near
The southern migration of the #gray whales will soon be over February 5, 2013 Whale and Wildlife Count 6 gray whales (including a pod of 5) 50 #common dolphins It’s been a record year for the number of gray whales spotted migrating south. Gray whale watching has rarely been so goo. Today, Captain Dave steered the Condor Express to calm … Read More
Twelve Gray Whales Seen Today
We ran into the Santa Barbara Channel to Santa Cruz Island to closely follow 12 gray whales today. There were many more all around within visual range. This time of year is prime-time to watch gray whales migrating south off of California’s coast. Bob
Dolphins galore out near the Channel Islands
Dolphins Galore on Today’s Whale Watching Trip Dolphins offered a great show today. The Channel Islands waters were teaming with dolphins and we had great weather today. A huge mega-pod of common dolphins played with the boat, and a group of Pacific white sided dolphins were also watched. A visit to the famous Painted Cave topped off the adventure. … Read More
A trip to Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel Island and blue whales too.
Saturday, August 25, 2012 Daily Whale and Dolphin Report: Here are the species we watched closely today: 2 Blue Whales 1100 Common Dolphins 10 Dall’s Porpose 20+ Northern Elephant Seals (on the beach) Hundreds of California sea lions (on the beach) NOTES: A wonderful adventure to the far west Channel and San Miguel Island today, including a visit to beautiful … Read More