Minke whales and long-beaks: a Special Day in the Santa Barbara Channel
- curtis35188
- Nov 23, 2012
- 1 min read
Our inaugural trip after 3 weeks in the boatyard for annual maintenance and inspections was gorgeous in spots. I say “in spots” because there was dense fog here and there, and bright open sunlight in between. We ran to the east Channel and found areas of high activity: bait fish, birds, and of course, lots of long-beaked common dolphins. We searched these hot spots for large cetaceans and had an encounter with two spectacular minke whales. One of the minke whales was a full grown adult, estimated at 30 feet. Wow. All this was followed by a visit to the eastern end of Santa Cruz Island and beautiful Scorpion Anchorage. It was a special day in the Santa Barbara Channel.