A single excursion out into the Santa Barbara Channel at noon today yielded great whale sightings for all. It was a crystal clear day and you could see from Boney Ridge above Malibu to Santa Rosa Island; great for spout watching. We headed south at first towards the first 3 offshore oil platforms (Platforms C, B, A and Hillhouse) and before long our eagle-eyed deckhand Tasha spotted two spouts heading west. We altered our course heading and aimed at these two whales, but before we could get that far offshore we were greeted by a separate pair of gray whales also heading west. It turned out to be a mother and her calf. The calf was very small, had a few barnacles, but definitely was not a newborn per se. We continued with the pair for quite a while and had wonderful looks. The adult whale kicked up its flukes on every dive.
Your truly had initially spotted another group of west bound whale spouts a bit inside of our location. Tasha relocated the group just off the Santa Barbara Point light tower and it turned out to be three adult sized gray whales. The three had relatively short down times and frequently fluked-up for their fans. The spouted singly, in pairs and, on occasion, as a trio. Of course all this was taking place under the bright blue sky and bright sun. A light southwesterly breeze blew all afternoon without so much as a whitecap forming.
Wow! What a great day for watching 5 gray whales with at least 2 more in the area.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express
I’ll post my photos from this trip to the web sometime tomorrow.