Birdnados abound - 8 humpbacks and 1300 common dolphins
- Bob Perry
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
2025 06–05 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew reported cool conditions today under a high overcast layer. The ocean surface was calm with a light chop later in the day. Sightings for the trip included: 8 humpback whales and 1300 common dolphins. Our course took us up the coast to a point about 5 miles south of Gaviota, then we turned south and ended up touching The Lanes before heading back home.
Before we made our turn south we encountered multiple large birdnados being worked by at least 1000 dolphins. The whole hotspot was drifting west. We watch for a while and then moved south.
A few miles later we came upon a big adult whale that was also traveling west. It came up close to the boat on our port side, then, later it came up close to the boat on the starboard side. It was an equal opportunity humpback. We continued south.
2 miles later we got a quick look at a single humpback whale that had a long dive cycle. But nearby there was a third whale which launched into a full body breach fairly close to the boat. (See today’s photo for an example). Yet another whale was nearby and we found it because it breached! It quickly joined the third whale and they took off to the west together.
Out in The Lanes there were 3 individual whales that had long dive times but showed good tail flukes. On our way home, we saw yet another whale and about 300 more dolphins with a birdnado, but we were out of time and gave it only a quick glance.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry