Image: A birnado hotspot in the Santa Barbara Channel.
2024 08–26 SB Channel
What a gorgeous day it was. Seas were mostly glassy. Skies were sunny and bright, with a slight haze out towards the islands. It was short sleeve weather. Sightings for the day included: 2 Minke Whales, 1 humpback whale, 5000 common dolphins and at least 20 California sea lions. In addition, the crew removed 2 floating, deflated, Mylar balloons from the ocean surface.
We took a quick stop to see a couple of dozen dolphins less than a mile out from the harbor. Continuing on a southerly heading, we were about 4 miles south of Platform Charlie when we found lots more dolphins, and 2 Minke whales that were all working on an area full of surface anchovies. A few sea lions joined the banquet. As we left the area, we retrieved the first balloon.
Heading west, and just about 5 miles off the beach, deckhand Chantal spotted a humpback surface lunging on anchovies about 2 miles away. Arriving on the scene, we found several birdnado hotspots, thousands of dolphins, and an interesting whale. The interesting part was that the beast started out with one breath on the surface and dives that lasted 10 or 12 minutes, during which time it moved a considerable distance in a random direction. Slowly, as we watched the animal over an hour’s time. It’s gradually spent more time breathing on the surface and less time on its dives. It’s tail was mostly white with distinctive black spotting.
There were several more hotspots with thousands of dolphins. The crew also retrieved the second balloon before we started heading home.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor express, and
Comments