A nursery pod full of common dolphin calves, and some wonderful humpback whale behaviors!

Image: a humpback whale mugged the Condor Express and then, as they often do, it went through a comprehensive  repertoire of friendly behaviors such as the spy hop that you see here.

2026 02–01 SB Channel

What an amazing stretch of weather and sea conditions we have been experiencing. The streak continued today with glassy seas, clear skies, and generally warm weather… for February! Again our water clarity throughout the channel was spectacular: Santa Barbara Cobalt!

The wildlife encounters were phenomenal: 4 humpback whales, 2000 common dolphins and 1 Minke whale. Late in the trip, the crew removed a single, floating, disintegrating, Mylar balloon from the ocean surface…this one was decorated like a pirate.  Aaaaaar! Captain Eddie and the crew took us S and ended up very close to the lanes before  turning around and coming home.

A megapod of common dolphins intercepted the Condor Express when we were halfway between the Summerland oil rigs and Platform Habitat. In addition to their exceptional friendly behavior towards us, this turned out to be a nursery pod with vast numbers of cow/calf pairs. Nearby we had a good fortune of spending some time with a very small, juvenile humpback whale. But alas! It was heading N back towards the harbor so we bid it a fond adieu.

We were halfway to the lanes when we got mugged by a juvenile whale. (See notes below for whales that we were able to identify, and see today’s photo above for similar behavior to this  juvenile whale). The mugging session went on for over 20 minutes and included lots of rolling around, some vocalization, and swimming up and down both sides of the boat after passing under the bow.

On the edge of the lanes we found a pair of adults. They were very sluggish, and appeared to be half asleep, logging on the surface. Of course, this meant we had some really great looks! During our observations, a single Minke whale came through the area and we watched it through several breathing cycles.

On the way home Captain Eddy stopped at the infamous Platform A and talked a little bit about its operation and it’s infamy.

You never know what mother nature has in store

Bob Perry

condorexpressphotos.com

NOTE: crewmember Isabel and our friend Susanne were both busy looking at whales’ tails and coming up with some identification information for us. The individual that mugged us is known as “the calf of Stump.”