Image: A patch of dense fog heading towards us today.
2023 09-27 SB Channel
After a short one-mile trip out of the harbor with bright blue skies, the fog closed in. We had dense fog, often producing near zero visibility, throughout the day. There were a few nice, sunny “sucker holes,” and for a while we could actually see Santa Cruz Island AND the mainland simultaneously. Additionally, small craft warnings were in effect for the far western Channel, but the winds up there made our ride quite bumpy at times. Conditions made spotting wildlife a challenge. Nonetheless, we closely watched 3000 long-beaked common dolphins, 3 humpback whales, and 20 California sea lions.
We found a nice, spread-out area of about 1000 dolphins at 1125a when the fog lifted for a while. They took an interest in the boat only as then passed us by in transit. We continued on to an area south and east of The Buoy.
The sharp, fog-cutting eyeballs of 2nd Captain and deck boss, Kelly, somehow spotted spouts at a distance as we were back in a fog patch. How does she do it? There were 3 whales, a pair and a single, and all were in transit mode moving east. We followed at a safe distance and had good looks.
On the way home we watched another mega pod of dolphins. About 1 mile out from Santa Barbara the sun came out and skies were blue.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store,
Bob Perry Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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