Humpback whales, California sea lions, Dall’s porpoise, common dolphins, and… killer whales!
- Bob Perry
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Image: a killer whale made a friendly approach to the Condor Express in clear water.
2025 12–20 SB Channel
Sunny skies prevailed in the Channel today, and there was no wind. Unfortunately, a residual bump from overnight winds made things a little bit uncomfortable during the first half of the trip. Water clarity was fantastic and enhanced all of our sightings. Totals for the trip: 6 humpback whales, 50 California sea lions, 10 Dall’s porpoise,100 common dolphins and 5 killer whales. Captain Eddy and the crew ran almost directly S, stopped a few miles north of the lanes, then reversed course back to the Harbor.
About 4 miles S of the harbor we encountered our first humpback whale. It was a juvenile. Like all of the humpback whales that we saw today, it had long dive times and was apparently feeding subsurface. Nearby, we found and retrieved a large amount of old, heavy, derelict commercial fishing net. Among all the fouling organisms that were now growing on the net, there was also a live, entangled, cormorant. As we brought the net on board the Condor Express, our friend, Captain Devin on the Velella was able to cut the bird free and release it. A team effort!
Nearby we watched an additional two humpback whales. Both were adults, and one was larger than the other. They did not show any tail flukes. Soon, the single whale that we had seen earlier joined them to make a trio. A raft of 50 or so California sea lions was on the surface enjoying the nice sunlight.
We continued until we were just N of the lanes where we found an additional pair of humpback whales. They were distinguished by long white pectoral fins, easily seen, and followed, in the clear water.
A pod of 10 Dall’s porpoise came by, and captain Eddy maneuvered the boat to entice them to ride our bow. These little black-and-white high speed torpedoes were beautiful to observe in the clear water.
We headed back towards the harbor and soon intercepted a small pot of common dolphins. They were accompanied by another big humpback whale. We continued our way towards home.
When we were just 3 miles south of Ledbetter, a tall dorsal fin caught Eddy‘s eye. It turned out to be a group of five Biggs killer whales. (See photo above for an example, and ID information in the NOTE at the end). The killers were initially found tossing around a single California sea lion. The sea lion escaped and eventually hid underneath the Condor Express in the slot between our twin hulls. The killer whales spent a lot of time patrolling the perimeter of the boat and passing underneath. It was a legitimate and wonderful mugging episode.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
NOTE: thanks to Mark O’Brien’s photographs, Alisa Schulman-Janiger, from the California Killer Whale Project identified our 5 whales. We had a mother, CA 122B, with her 4 offspring, and her younger brother CA 122C.