Calm seas and wonderful cetaceans
- Bob Perry
- Apr 23
- 2 min read
2025 04–23 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew ran a single trip at noon. Skies were overcast with patches of sun late in the trip. The ocean surface was flat and calm. Sightings for the day included: 7 humpback whales and 800 common dolphins.
Our course took a southeast towards the rigs. We found a pair of humpback whales and had one quick look in a location halfway between the sand and the rigs. It was a “one and done” whale.
Dave took advantage of our location to slowly move around Platform Alpha which gained notoriety when it had a huge blowout back in 1969 that killed a lot of wildlife and soiled the beaches for months. Along with the pesticide DDT, a toxic and persistent pesticide that was widely used for decades and ended up in the ocean, the Santa Barbara Platform A blowout helped launch the first Earth Day in 1970.
We continued southeast until we were just north of Platform Habitat where a large pod of common dolphins located the Condor Express. Per usual, they were friendly and took turns ridiing our bow, side, and stern waves. About a mile northwest we had a quick look at an adult humpback whale which showed it’s beautiful tail flukes.
Turning back towards the coast we found a trio of whales. They were busy rolling around, swimming sideways and upside down. When we arrived they immediately came over and mugged us for 20 minutes. A curious behavior was noted: one of them had been engaged in kelping, and came over to the Condor Express with kelp on its head…gift to its fan club on the boat? Amazing! (See today’s photo for an example.)
On the way home, we had two more sightings: one was a drive-by look at another humpback, and the second was the sighting of a Christmas tree floating on the surface…will a Santa Claus fly-over be next?
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
