Another nice day with thousands of dolphins and two humpback whales
- Bob Perry
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
2025 07–04 SB Channel
Skies had a thin overcast. There was a light breeze and a small swell when we left The Harbor. Captain Eddy took us west and then South until we ended up between the LaneS and beautiful Santa Cruz Island. Here we found glassy and sunny conditions. Sightings for the trip included 4000 common dolphins, 2 humpback whales, and 200 California sea lions. The crew also removed a single semi-transparent, floating Mylar balloon from the ocean surface.
At 10:30 we were just 3 miles offshore when we found the first pod of dolphins and there would be more everywhere we went. This group had about 800 individuals and engaged in quite a bit of leaping as well as amorous socialization. Always fun to see!
By 11:05 we were 4 miles south of The Farm. Here we encountered a larger group of 1000+ dolphins, 1 humpback whale, and at least 100 California sea lions, all surrounded by sooty shearwaters. The whale started up by making a couple of close passes and then went about its business all around the boat as we watch for about 45 minutes. The end of the session ended with its one and only tail fluke. This tail fluke allowed our friend and passenger Susanne to identify this whale. It is officially CRC-19933. It’s name is Wally and in January 2023 it was seen in Maui. This is an uncommon occurrence for one of our West Coast whales to swim over to Hawaii and back.
At 12:10 We found the largest megapod of the day with at least 2000 individuals. The pod was moving continually west and, at one point, went into stampede mode. There were lots of sea lions in the area. Our last sighting took place at 12:40 as we began watching our second humpback whale. This whale had extremely long downtimes and, conversely, short surface intervals. It was apparently searching for food and traveled great distances while underwater…making it a little bit challenging to follow.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
