Image: Two Minke whales.
2023 04-29 SB Coast
Both the 9a and the 12n trips ran under a high, gray stratus layer with very calm seas. Sightings included 11 humpback whales and 3 Minke whales.
On the morning trip Captain Dave and the crew spotted an aggregation of feeding seabirds that stretched across at least a mile of ocean. This hot spot was south of the Summerland oil platform line, about half way to Platform Habitat. We were reasonably hopeful all this activity would attract whales and it did. Our first cetaceans were 3 individual Minke whales (see photo of 2 Minke whales above). They were on a straight path with a regular dive cycle and, thus, we had good looks at them.
Soon thereafter we watched a speckled juvenile humpback whale, a single adult humpback and a mother humpback with her calf. Both mom and calf were busy feeding.
The noon adventure found a single humpback 6 miles out of the harbor, then a cow/calf pair. The calf rolled around a bit near mom, and the pair made a couple of very friendly, close approaches to the Condor Express. Soon, the same speckled juvenile came into the area. On the way back to the harbor we saw three more individual humpback whales.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com