2 species of whale calves and a ton of dolphins
A little bumpy but otherwise sunny conditions greeted us this morning on the 9am adventure. Captain Eric quickly got situated on a herd of 300 common dolphins just outside the Santa Barbara Harbor entrance buoy. Amazing to see these guys so close to shore ! Next, up near the old light tower, we found our first gray whale mother and calf pair. The young whale did some nice rolling around which is always fun to see. Later, near More Mesa, we found “More” common dolphins…about 200 this time. By the end of the trip the little bumpiness had laid down and things were getting really nice.
On the noon adventure our second gray whale mother-calf pair was located up near Hendry’s Beach, and as with the morning juvenile, there was a lot of rolling around. This time the pair made a bee-line towards the Condor Express, and then turned around and headed straight back to the kelp forest. Eric got a report about possible humpbacks offshore and headed outside to do a little look-see. Before long he had spotted a mother and calf humpback pair, and just like their distant cousins the gray whales, the juvenile humpie rolled around, showed its ventral groove blubber, and slapped a few pectorals for fun.
All in all it was a spectacular day. Tomorrow we have the 12 noon and 3 pm trips open… You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express