Giant blue whales return to the Channel today!
A blue whale mother and very young calf stole the show away from all the humpbacks and dolphins today. Here’s the scoop: veteran whaleman Captain Mat steered the boat out to the southwest and found several high activity centers, one after the other…no more than a mile or two separating them. Each hot spot featured the usual predators. Seabirds, common dolphins and humpback whales. All these animals were engaged in sub-surface feeding and paid very little attention to the boat. It was overcast, but some thin patches actually felt warm. There were at least 16 humpbacks watched closely today, and others in the distance. Once again, the number of common dolphins, which were everywhere in the morning, was hard to count scientifically, let’s go with 3,000+. After draining the southwest region of marine life, Captain Mat changed course to the east, to an area of activity that the Condor Express reported yesterday…a few more humpbacks and dolphins. Not long after this last humpback sighting, we got a call on the VHF radio about possible blue whales far to the east. With precious little time remaining, Captain Mat made the bold decision, and we throttled up. After about 15 minutes on our easterly course, a pair of giant blue whales was located. Actually, the mother was “giant,” and her very young calf (perhaps 20-ft length at the max) was not a “giant,” yet. We stayed with this happy mother and calf couple for about an hour. Despite sun in the eastern Channel yesterday, today the east was low overcast with a slight drizzle. This did not dampen the spirits of all on board who were surprised and thrilled by the blue whales starting to appear in the Channel at long last.
The marine forecast for is for improving weather, more sunny skies, for the rest of the week. Also no coronal mass ejections are forecast.
I’ll post up the photos sometime tomorrow morning at https://www.CondorExpressPhotos.com
Hope to see you on board tomorrow and later this week too Bob Perry Condor Express