2021 03-17 SB COAST
Captain Colton and the crew of the Condor Express ran 2 public whale watching trips today leaving the docks in Santa Barbara Harbor at 12 noon and 3 PM. Sea conditions were absolutely glassy. Skies were mostly cloudy but beautiful streaming sun patches poked through here and there. Total sightings for the day consisted of 15 northbound Pacific gray whales. Indeed, as Captain Colton put it, we move from one whale to the next without a break.
The noon trip ran up the coast to Campus Point and then offshore about 8 miles where we located our first pair of whales. All of the whales today were adult and sub-adult whales (no juveniles or newborns). All were moving up the coast at a leisurely pace. Tail flukes were abundant. Turning the boat a little bit to the east another pair were located and watched closely. On the trip home we quickly looked at yet another four leviathans.
The afternoon trip found seven more gray whales starting with one fairly close to shore just northwest of the harbor. From this point the boat moved offshore and did a giant loop to the west before heading home again. The course was dictated by the spouts. It was a dream day for coastal whale watching.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
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