Image: A super friendly humpback tail-swipe.
2023 05-30 SB Channel
Once again, ran a course to the far west (El Capitán), the went offshore from there. It was overcast near the beach and much sunnier offshore. Seas were calm. Sightings included 200 long-beaked common dolphins, 50 California sea lions and 4 humpback whales.
There was a dolphin feeding frenzy 3 miles off The Mesa, with lots of upside-down feeding and birds diving all around. Quite a few sea lions were scattered around the zone feeding, too.
Up the coast, we watched 3 adult whales about 5 miles south of Goleta Bay. There was a bit of socializing, rolling around and slow tail-swipes. (See today’s photo).
Continuing west then moving offshore, we found an extremely friendly whale on the northern edge of The Lanes. It had breached in the distance and caught our eye. On the scene, it approached the boat gingerly a couple of times then went into a full on, legitimate mugging…including slow swims under the boat, spy-hopping, and spouting so close to our hulls that it did get some folks wet.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com