Moderate wind and waves brings out the best in our Channel marine mammals.
- Bob Perry
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
2025 07-05 SB Channel
There were bright blue and sunny skies all day. The morning featured light and variable winds, but afternoon the westerlies swept across the southern half of The Channel with plenty of waves and white caps. The afternoon seemed to invigorate the wildlife and seeing our native mammals “in their natural element” is always thrilling. Sightings: 8000 common dolphins, 2 humpback whales, 6 coastal bottlenose dolphins and 25 California sea lions.
10:10am. Near the mouth of the harbor we intercepted a small pod of inshore (aka, coastal) bottlenose dolphins. They came by the boat and rode our bow several times. The group was close enough to clearly see a mother with her moderately large calf.
Fifteen minutes later we spent quite a while with a larger pod of around 500 common dolphins. This group was actively feeding on the surface and many of the dolphins flipped upside down at the end of their hunt for an individual anchovy. Wonderful looks were had by all.
There were dozens of scattered pods of common dolphins all day, ranging between a couple dozen and a few hundred individuals.
11:00am. We had excellent looks at a small mob of sea lions resting and finning in a giant kelp paddy. They were very picturesque in the bright sunlight surrounded by clear blue water.
When we were south of The Lanes and close to Santa Cruz Island, Captain Eddy changed course to the east, leaving most of the bump associated with the prevailing wind and waves behind. We paralleled the island until, around 12:30pm, the first of several megapods of dolphins were watched. This first herd was at least 1000 strong and was spread out across a mile of water.
1:00pm. A huge megapod of 5000 or more dolphins were watched as they busted through some waves and surfed others. The pod was tight and huge. Once again I was thinking “in their element.” After an epic long session with these mighty mammals, Eddy started heading back to The Harbor. When we crossed The Lanes, Eddy and deckhand Isabel spotted a spout and we were soon watching our first whale! On the final approach to this sighting there were some blockbuster explosions about a mile east, indicating the presence of a breaching whale. This second whale also threw its tail for some additional majestic spray and foam. Continuing with the first whale, it was extremely friendly and stayed alongside the Condor Express working both sides of the boat. It vocalized several times and also kicked up its flukes. It was a wonderful conclusion to a dolphin-filled day.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
