Image: A humpback whale near The Buoy (NOAA 46053).
2023 6-13 SB Channel
Captain Devin and the crew found ideal calm conditions with a high, thin marine layer. The calmness of the conditions transferred to the whales, as you will read below. Sightings included 6 humpback whales and 1500 long-beaked common dolphins.
As the above photo suggests, the activity was centered around the NOAA East Channel Buoy area today. Whale and dolphins were mixed together and gave lots of very good, albeit low-energy, looks. The whales came 2, then 1, 1, and another 2. The last pair made a slow and friendly pass by the Condor Express. All whales were in “transit mode,” and, after generally showing nice tail flukes, spent long times submerged.
The crew picked up 2 Mylar, floating, deflated balloons from the ocean surface. While not a typical topic for a “whale trip report,” it turned out that one of the balloons was a large Mylar bag that suspended a Styrofoam box, and bore the Lockheed-Martin logo. After some research, Devin found it was a type of weather balloon that is currently in use, and after a while they lose their helium and drop, as they all do. But wait! Father’s Day is coming soon!
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com