2018 09-12 Western Channel
A light marine layer burned off to become a gorgeous sunny day with very calm seas…ideal for wildlife searching and watching. Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor Express closely watched: 2 humpback whales, 12 coastal bottlenose dolphins, 2500 long-beaked common dolphins and over 200 California sea lions. This was a trip “out west,” covering the northern Santa Barbara Channel to Gaviota and back. (see attached ship’s track)
Close to Santa Barbara Harbor, and offshore from Hope Ranch, a nice pod of about a dozen inshore (aka, coastal) bottlenose dolphins paid us a visit. This pod had a couple of small calves in the mix.
On our route to Platform Hope and beyond, and near the beautiful Gaviota coast, two separate whales were watched; one was larger than the other. We had great looks at both whales and the small one made a very close and friendly approach. Loads of common dolphins were in with both of them, as were many dozens of sea lions. All this action, with the panoramic views of the western Santa Barbara coast and Santa Ynez Mountains, was breath-taking.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com