Two mid-Santa Barbara Channel gray whales and more We ran south heading offshore and ran smack into a nice herd of long beaked common dolphins. The were heading east in super clear, blue water. After some nice playtime, we continued east-southeast and quickly came upon two southbound gray whales. This is pretty far off the beach an no where near …
The same 2 humpback whales go wild again. Wow!
Humpback whales go wild again Two humpback whales “mugged” the Condor Express repeatedly today. Captain Eric ran to the eastern Santa Barbara Channel again due to reports of rough seas out at the islands. As he did yesterday, he found the white tailed mother and her juvenile busy lunge feeding on the surface. At one point the juvenile rolled over …
Two Happy Humpback Whales Enjoyed by All
Captain Eric and the crew report another calm, flat sunny day on the feeding grounds today and there were two humpbacks whales watched closely. One was the prop scar whale that did all the jumping earlier this week, and its pal is the whale with the all white tail. Today seemed to be more of a “digesting and lounging” day, …
Perfect sea conditions and lots of surface whale feeding
The anchovy populations took advantage of the glassy, sunny zero wind day to come up and bask in the sun. Perhaps they wanted to snack on a few copepods or other planktonic life on such a nice day. Little did they know that congregating on the surface would ultimately prove to be a very bad idea. Captain Dave and the …
“Prop Scar” Humpback Whale Breaches again today!
Prop Scar Humpback whale breaches again today. With at least 500 common dolphins in the area all day long, and between 5 and 6 Minke whales, the Condor Express ventured to the feeding grounds again today. Regular readers of the blog will know that we frequently see a mature humpback whale with a very pronounced and deep propeller scar, and …
Humpback Whale Behavioral Repertoire Goes Ballistic
Humpback Whale Show a Treat While I was stuck behind my desk at work, Captain Dave and the crew were out there enjoying the fine sunny weather and calm seas. A total of 7 humpback show-stoppers were watched today, including a very friendly mother and calf that approached the boat quite closely several times. The instigator for all the action …
Saturday humpback whale-o-rama
The strong winds that blow to the east continue to miss the eastern Santa Barbara Channel humpback whale grounds. These winds are forecast to die completely later today, making Sunday a potential stunner. The clear skies and unlimited vistas afforded views from Point Conception to Boney Ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains….all four northern islands were in clear view. This …
Our humpback whales are still at it!
After a few days off doing regularly scheduled maintenance and a tiny trickle of local rain, the Condor Express set a course for the humpback whale hot spot again today. Good news: our humpback whales are still at it ! Sea conditions were quite nice considering the thunderous winds to the east of the Santa Barbara Channel. None of these …
Outstanding sea conditions for whale watching AGAIN !!
Outstanding sea conditions for whale watching AGAIN!! These wonderful Fall whale watching conditions just keep on rolling along. Hardly a breath of wind, glassy surface, blue water and blue skies with warm sun. Right out of the harbor we encountered about 8 inshore bottlenose dolphins and ran with them through the East Beach anchorage. One of the large bottlenose was …
Mother and calf put on a show in the Santa Barbara Channel
Today we watched a “new” (not recognized by us previously) mother and her calf in the east Santa Barbara Channel. Conditions for whale watching were good, and the big winds stayed outside the Channel Islands and west of us. The cow-calf pair stayed with us for over an hour, and the calf did what calves will do…stayed close to mom …