Mega humpback whale day!
- Bob Perry
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
2025 04-16 SB Channel
Seas were flat glass calm in the morning and ended up being slightly rippled by the end of the afternoon trip. We had two trips today: a 9 AM public whale watch, and a 1:30 PM private whale watch. A high stratus layer kept things gray and cool until we were 4 miles offshore, then for the rest of the day skies were sunny. Total sightings for the day included 1 Minke whale and 18+ humpback whales. As sometimes happens, the raw numbers do not tell the whole story.
Not long after Captain Dave gave us a short tour of platform Charlie, we had a nice encounter with a single Minke whale on the morning trip. Moving south just a few miles, we had close looks at 6 humpback whales, with more in the area. First we saw a pair, then four more joined in. Soon thereafter the group divided into two trios. Then the fun began.
We saw countless numbers of sideways lunges with plenty of BS-5 birdnados. Later they would be a few straight-up, vertical lunges as well. Several of the whales became very friendly and mugged the boat. There was also quite a bit of socializing and it appeared that two males were being aggressive around a large female. Ultimately one of the males left the area. But we did see a lot of chasing and aggressive chin and pectoral fin slapping.
On the 1:30 PM excursion, again we did the platform C tour. Just west of Charlie we found a pair of humpback whales to get us started. After some really good looks we noticed lots of spouts south of our location. We were about 8 miles off the harbor and there were an additional 10+ humpback whales. Among them, many whales were busy feeding, although there were fewer birdnados in the afternoon, two humpbacks became the “stars,” that Captain Dave called “super breachers,“ meaning they breached pretty much nonstop for at least 12 or 15 leaps. They were also on their backs rolling around, including some upside down pectoral fin-slapping (See today’s photograph for example.) Lastly, the pair became interested in the Condor Express and mugged us. This included friendly circles around and around the boat, several swims directly under the boat, and playing in our jetwash astern.
This was humpback viewing at its very best.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
