2020 02-27 SB Coast
Captain Colton and his crew produced a near record-breaking day for sightings, which included: 15+ humpback whales, 6 Pacific gray whales, 5000 long-beaked common dolphins, 10 inshore bottlenose dolphins, 1 blue shark and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola). It was slightly overcast in the morning, but there was zero wind and the sea was mirror glass. The sun came out later in the morning.
There was a giant hot zone about 5 miles south of the harbor which consisted of countless densely-packed surface northern anchovy schools. All manner of predatory sea bird was on the scene, as were thousands of common dolphins and humpback whales galore. This hot spot remained active for both the 9am and the 12 noon trips. Dozens of episodes of surface lunge feeding humpbacks were witnessed. On the morning trip one of the whales was a giant, at least 60 feet long and very wide. It also did some lunging. On the afternoon trip we spent over an hour watching humpbacks repeatedly mug the boat, roll around next to us, and (per Captain Colton) there were at least 30 instances of spy hopping right next to the Condor Express. [NOTE: crew member Adam’s nice image of one of these spy-hops is seen above] Numerous passengers were “anointed” with fresh spout spray as the beasts were so close.
Common dolphins were spread out and huge numbers were seen on both trips everywhere we roamed. On the morning trip a large blue shark was watched amidst the bait balls and a Mola mola was spotted near Leadbetter Beach. In the afternoon two trios of gray whales happened to pass by the area purely by chance and we diverted to follow them for a while, getting great looks. A medium-sized pod of bottlenose dolphins greeted us as we re-entered the harbor to end the day.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express. And CondorExpressPhotos.com