Gray whale mom’s and calves AND dolphins all day long
Go east! And east it was. No less than 3 different gray whale mother-calf pairs were watched as they each paraded along the edge of the kelp forest. We ran down past Monticeto to Summerland ad escorted these pairs all the way. At Summerland a big pod of at least 25 bottlenose dolphins came over to ride along side the boat, play in the kelp and otherwise have a lot of fun with the humans. It should be noted that AGAIN we had a bright, sunny, hot day with fairly calm seas. There was a little bump from the west as winds were blowing all night up past Point Conception. Several of the dolphins leaped and did back flips and other acrobatics. All this was on the 9am excursion.
Go west! And west it was. On the noon excursion we encountered 2 of the morning gray whale cow/calf pairs up at Hendry’s. The babies rolled in the kelp, spy hopped and went crazy entertaining everyone on board the Condor Express. We rode along with the whales, as the 2 pairs split up, all the way west to Goleta Bay. Now if you have been reading these reports all week you know there has been another large pod of 15 – 20 bottlenose dolphins feeding (on sardines?) in the Bay. Today was no different. Our friends were still there. They recognized the Condor and continued their slow inspection of the hull and passengers….as has been their custom this week.
It was another fantastic coastal adventure filled day. We have open whale watch trips again tomorrow at 9am and 3pm. You better get out here while the show lasts. On May 12 we cut over to the late Spring and Summer schedule and do longer, island whale watch trips looking for humpback whales, blue whales and whatever else Mother Nature has in store.
See you soon Bob Perry Condor Express