Excellent observations of humpback whales, common dolphins, a Minke whale, and 1 Mola mola.
- Bob Perry
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Image: common dolphins body surfing a wake wave created by the Condor Express, as they always do. Since they ride the waves mostly below the surface, it has been my hypothesis that they use the face of the wave as a “window” to look out that their surroundings…gaining some elevation.
2026 05–28 SB Channel
Seas were calm, but as we moved offshore we got into rain squalls. Skies were overcast all day. Captain Dave headed SW towards the buoy, ending up adjacent to the W end of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. Sightings for the day: 5 humpback whales (we closely watched 3), 700 common dolphins, 1 Minke whale, and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
A pod of at least 300 common dolphins were observed spread-out over a wide area. Captain Dave put the boat into a circle to get the little mammals interested in pursuing their favorite hobby: surfing our wake waves. (See today’s photo for an example).
There were 5 spouts in the vicinity of the buoy. All of them belonged to humpback whales. There were 2 pairs plus a single. The first pair was a mother humpback with her calf. They had short dive times and spent a lot of time with us on the surface for some great looks. Nearby, the solo whale turned out to be a juvenile which was diving sub-surface and had long dive times.
Dave stopped the boat to observe a single ocean sunfish (Mola mola), that was a few inches below the surface and stayed around for quite a while as everyone got close views of this fish.
On the way back to the Harbor, about 3 1/2 miles out, we found another pod of about 400 dolphins. This was a more condensed pod than the morning one.
About a mile out from the Harbor entrance we slowed down and had a drive-by look at a single Minke whale, the world’s smallest baleen whale.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
