
image: An ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
2023 09-23SB Channel
Skies were blue and the ocean surface showed small ripples from the breeze. The weather was awesome and perfect for spotting mammals. Sightings for the day included: 4000 long-beaked common dolphins, 6 humpback whales, 10 California sea lions, and one ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
Although we watched a few hundred scattered dolphins (just past the kelp farm). Thousands of them would be seen later when we got out on the hotspot east of The Buoy. Our first whales included a pair, and another single. The three whales were mostly on the move, but we did see some fantastic tail throws, some pec slaps, and we had they made a few close approaches to the Condor Express.
The same area, as you guessed was full of thousands of common dolphins. Sea birds, and a handful of sea lons were also in the mix. It wasn't long before we watched another pair of humpback whales. They, too, were on the move perhaps searching. Near the hotspot we watched a 3 foot ocean sunfish (Mola mola) with a western gull sitting on top of it.
As we were turning to head back towards the harbor, our 6th whale came by, and we had good looks.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store,
Robert Perry,
Condor Express, and
Condorexpressphotos.com.
Awesome!