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Another near record day for dolphins and a one hour encounter with a phenomenal Minke whale

2022 07-01 SB Channel

There were blue, sunny skies all day in the northern Channel. Winds were light and there was a gentle, long-period westerly swell running that only the Minke whale seemed to notice. Sightings were low on diversity but fantastic as sightings go. We closely watched 1 phenomenal Minke whale and 6000 long-beaked common dolphins. The clear water was home to numerous egg yolk jellies today and made us wonder where the ocean sunfish (Mola mola), known predators of jellies, were.

Okay, once again, NOBODY had a clicker and counted the exact number of common dolphins today. But, given their density over a great swath of ocean and, in comparison to other recent high population counts, this is what Captain Dave reported and I’m comfortable. After moving out from the harbor entrance a few short miles, we were located by pod after pod as the dolphins stretched west past Platform Holly and were still going strong when we finally changed course to the southeast later in the trip. The water was extremely clear here in the nearshore zone, and we could clearly watch hundreds of spread-out northern anchovy bait balls being attacked by dolphins from below and sea birds from above. When we moved past Holly, there were some much larger pods.

Soon a single large Minke whale passed close by the Condor Express. This greeting kicked off a nearly 1-hour observation of this whale which included some super behavioral sightings. The Minke made a bunch of close passes alongside the boat. It occasionally swam ahead of us, and proceeded to ride the aforementioned west swell, as if showing off for its fans. During one sighting, the whale swam closely along our starboard side UPSIDE DOWN. Then, tilted its head downward and did a barrel-roll into the depths for a quick dive. Again, the magnificent water clarity was mind-blowing.

You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and www.CondorExpressPhotos.com

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