Ideal Autumn Conditions & Good Cetacean Sights

2022 10-09 SB Channel

Captain Devin and his crew traversed The Channel under partly sunny skies with light and variable winds. Sightings included 3 humpback whales and 5000 Long-beaked common dolphins.

A very small group of dolphins got the day going only a mile or so from the harbor entrance. We made a brief pass for some looks, fully expecting larger groups further offshore.

Near The Lanes our expectations were exceeded as dolphin pods and mega pods prevailed, especially in a few northern anchovy hot spots. Our first mega pod at this location stretched out for over a mile. We moved further south in search of larger cetaceans.

South of The Lanes a smaller hot spot produced a single, juvenile humpback whale. It was originally sighted by a keen-eyed passenger that saw it lunge-feeding on the surface. Upon arriving at the scene, the whale was in travel mode but did quite a bit of trumpet vocalizing.

Two miles east of the previous hot spot we found another whale. It was another juvenile. This one had an all-white tail and was fun to watch. Again, the region was flush with dolphins.

On the trip home, in addition to more dolphins, we had quick looks at a logging sub-adult whale.

You never know what Mother Nature has in store.

Bob Perry

Condor Express, and

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