2018 11-14 SB Channel
On a completely “mill pond” flat and sunny day, the crew of the Condor Express located and closely watched 7+ humpback whales and 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. Among the whales was Scarlet and what we now believe to be her not-newborn calf. The humpback calf stole the show.
It took about 45 minutes for us to run southwest to a spot 8 miles off the UCSB campus which has been hot for more than a week. The area was rich with dolphins today, and we had a nice session watching them before moving on.
Further offshore another 6 miles the dolphins were still thick, but the whales were also in abundance. Many of the initial whales were located as singletons, but the final two was a now famous pair: Scarlet and her calf. The pair headed for the Condor Express and made a friendly pass in fairly clear water so all on board had great looks. After this first “greeting,” the calf took off and got airborne with full-body breaching an estimated 30 times. Captain Dave’s iPhone capture of one of the breaches is shown above.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com