Fog and dolphins. Fog and humpbacks. Fog and a Minke. Did I mention it was foggy?

Image: a humpback whale enjoys itself by kelping.

2026 03–16 SB Channel  

Here is the story of both the 9A and the 12 N trips: dense, near zero visibility, fog. Luckily, the seas were very calm. Capt Eddy says the visibility improved a tiny little bit in spots during the afternoon adventure, but not much. It’s not just random luck that there were plenty of great sightings today, although it did help. On the other hand the megapods of dolphins that you will read about were found by talented Eddy using their radar signatures. Total sightings for the day: 2000 common dolphins, 8 humpback whales, and 1 quick look at a single Minke whale.

A tiny pod of 5 common dolphins got the morning trip started just off Ledbetter Beach. We were heading W and they were heading E, so it was a brief encounter. That was OK because soon thereafter, we found our first megapod about 4 miles off of Hope Ranch (using radar). 

Eddy and the crew drove through the dolphin pod and, near the end, there were 4 humpback whales in a group. They were busy kelping. (See today’s photo for example). They spent a lot of time on the surface. This sighting, and all the rest, were greatly enhanced by the spectacular water clarity today.  The 4 whales eventually spilled up and made 2 pairs. One pair wandered off a little bit and the ones that stayed behind got friendly with the Condor Express. To put the icing on the cake, 1 took off with a big breach close to the boat…in the fog! While all this was happening, we had a brief, foggy look at a single Minke whale.

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On the afternoon trip we located 2 of the same Whales we saw this morning. They were a little less interested in the boat although they did make some quick, close passes.

We also found the same megapod of 1000 common dolphins. 

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

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