Who knew it was February 12th? Air temperatures were in the mid-80’s, the water was mirror glass, and only a tiny breeze blew from the west-southwest. Right outside Santa Barbara Harbor we located our first 2 of what would eventually become 8 southbound gray whales. Dive times were short and the afternoon sunlight was perfect for making these giants show up against the deep blue sea. The curious thing about today was that we had 4 different whales breach multiple times and, in fact, one breached 7 or 8 times. What is up with the breaching gray whales this week? I’ve never seen so much airborne activity in such a short time span. But, hey, I’m not complaining. We also were visited by several large pods of long-beaked common dolphins and we watched at least 2,000 for the trip. The gray whales were fantastic and there were epic conditions.
NOTE: Please recall that our Spring, 3-trips per day, schedule starts this Saturday, Valentine’s Day. The boat leaves at 9a, 12p, and 3p.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express
It may take until next Tuesday to get all those breaching photographs online. It will be worth the wait.