A pleasant trip to Santa Cruz Island yields good humpback sightings and more.
- Bob Perry
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
2025 05-30 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew transected the middle of The Channel and ended up at the West End of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. The only break from the high stratus layer was the temporary sun at The Island. Seas were fairly calm and there was a light breeze. Totals for the day: 5 humpback whales, 1 common dolphin and 1 California sea lion (not on The Harbor Buoy). The crew removed 2 balloons (death bags) from the ocean surface.
We had one nice sighting on the way over to the West End. West of The Farm we watched a pair of adult whales that came over to the boat and gave us a “mini mugging.” It was 5 minutes of close-up love that included and incredible spy hop. (See today’s image for an example).
Out at the West End we watched another pair of whales subsurface feeding. Their down times were not too long and we had great looks. During this session, a single dolphin came over and passed under the Condor Express, the then left. A friendly sea lion came up to our stern at this spot as well. Before we left and headed home, we watched a wonderful episode of breaching in the distance by a single whale near Carrington Point, Santa Rosa Island.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry