Image: A birdnado with a surface lunge feeding humpback whale.
2024 11-02 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew experienced a bit of light rain in the morning as they headed south towards The Kelp Farm. There was a medium chop on the water. Sightings were epic: 3000 common dolphins and 20+ humpback whales. These numbers do not tell the whole story.
All of the action today was along an east-west line south of The Kelp Farm. We stayed in that area, moving from birdnado to birdnado…and they were everywhere…for the entire trip. The action was so phenomenal it would have been silly to move away. Each birdnado had humpback whale(s) surface lunge feeding. (Please see today’s image for an example).
There were individual whales lunging. Pairs, trios and larger assemblages of whales cooperatively fed and lunged simultaneously. The massive size of the beasts, often coming ½ way out of the water with mouths wide open, sent chills down every whale watcher’s spine. The intelligence, sensory skills, communication and power to lunge together, time and time again, non-stop for 4 hours was other-worldly.
Finally, our time expired and, even though we were just 5 or 6 miles offshore, we had to head back to The Harbor. As we slowly began to leave, one whale took to the air with a massive and thunderous breach.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
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