2022 08-14 SB Channel
It was another exciting August wildlife expedition under sunny, warm skies and light winds. The nocturnal winds far offshore created a residual bumpiness in the Channel as we moved west, but its effects were diminished immediately when we turned back east. Sightings included 4 humpback whales, 1000 LONG-beaked common dolphins and 500 SHORT-beaked common dolphins. It should be mentioned that our 2 species of common dolphins were separated from what was once considered a single group. In April, 1994, evidence was presented that the two had considerably different anatomical and behavioral patterns, and they’ve been separated ever since. (PS It’s not JUST the beak!).
Captain Devin picked up where Captain Dave left off yesterday with both long- and short-beaked dolphin species being closely watched. As is typical, the long-beaked species outnumbered their cousins again today. We started seeing them only 3 miles out from the harbor, and this continued through the day and on the way home too. Later in the trip, after our last humpback whale sighting, a large pod of short-beaks found us. The results were similar to yesterday, and were fantastic. There was a lot of leaping, including high-flying, tail-walking and generally exciting acrobatics to watch.
Humpback sightings began with a pair of large adults about 9 miles out. They were moving slowly to the east and showed regular tail fluking. Three miles west a sub-adult/juvenile was located as it moved slowly like the earlier pair. This individual treated us to two mighty tail-throws. The last humpback was a small juvenile seen moving south just prior to our short-beaked common dolphin experience.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com