35 humpback whales and a possible new record for 10,000 common dolphins during a 4.5 hour trip

2025 09–08 SB Channel

It was sunny and warm all day. The ocean surface remained glassy well into the afternoon when a light breeze came up. There was a small westerly bump from overnight winds offshore. Captain Eddy and the crew made their way to an amazing zone that covered a wide swath of ocean,  just southwest of the remaining kelp farm. Sightings for the day included: 35 humpback whales (we watched 20), 10,000 common dolphins, and 100 California sea lions.

At the west edge of the farm, a megapod of 2000 dolphins located the Condor Express. It was made up of smaller active groups. Tall spouts in the distance led us to a a second region with dolphins everywhere, stretching from east to west for at least 3 miles. There were 10 whales here, mostly going about their business feeding subsurface. There was additional action about a mile south. As we slowly moved from one spot to the next, there were whale spouts ALL AROUND the boat.

The next spot involved a large, active birdnado. Thousands of dolphins, birds, and at least 100 California sea lions were in on the action. We witnessed both vertical and sideways surface lunge feeding. At one point, while we were watching lunge feeding right next to the boat, a full body breach took place nearby in the same direction. Many of these whales were friendly with the us, some by accident, as they happened to come to breathe near us. There were dozens of additional whales all around that we did not have time to watch individually.

We spent over 30 minutes with a whale that was about a mile south of the above. During this time, it repeatedly breached, slapped its chin, slapped it’s pectoral fin, and made lots of close/friendly approaches. All this, surrounded by dolphins, of course.

On the way home….more dolphins.

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

condorexpressphotos.com

NOTE: what a day!