Flip, Stanley, and so much more.
- Bob Perry
- Aug 16
- 2 min read
2025 08–16 SB Channel
All the action was 6 or 7 miles south of UCSB today. Skies were overcast, but winds were light, and there was hardly any swell. Captain Eddy and the crew had a phenomenal day in terms of whale and dolphin behaviors. Sightings included: 2000 common dolphins, 8 humpback whales (we closely watched 5) and 50 California sea lions.
We began interacting with common dolphins when we were just slightly west of the farm. There were a couple of hundred at first. More were seen in the hotspot off Campus Point, and we ran into a megapod that was chasing bait all around on the surface, when we turned east to come home.
We initially found 5 humpback whales in the action zone. Captain Eddy made the wise decision to stay with 2 of them who happen to be engaged in a prolonged kelping session. Both were fairly young animals. One was a male named “ Flip,” and the other was “Stanley.” (*) The duo rolled around in the seaweed, spy hopped (see today’s photo for an example), and came up to the surface tail first through the algae, which we sometimes called “doing a headstand.”
Stanley turned out to be the most interesting whale of the day, if not the week, or the month. It departed the kelp and went on an aerial display session that included at least 25 breaches, some of which were very close to the Condor Express. It also did some chin-slapping and pectoral fin-slapping. Keep your eyes out for this whale in the future! It is truly an over-achiever.
Eddy moved north, closer to shore, before heading home and found 3 additional whales as well as the megapod of dolphins mentioned previously. The whales came close to the boat and were quite friendly. There were quite a few California sea lions here as well.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
*Note: kudos again to our humpback whale-loving deckhand Isabel. She was able to identify Flip and Stanley using her research skills and HappyWhale, on the spot.
