Mother nature does not disappoint the American Cetacean Society members that were on board this special charter today.
- Bob Perry
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
2025 09–06 SB Channel
Skies started out mostly overcast with a trace of wind. There was no swell as we left the dock at 8:20 AM. Later in the trip, we were in full sun and choppy seas. Total sighting for the day included: 4000 common dolphins, 30 humpback whales (we closely watched 22), 100 California sea lions, 10 offshore bottlenose dolphins and 40 Risso’s dolphins.
As we reached the mouth of the harbor, we were treated to a large congregation of black skimmers on the sandbar. Always fun to see.
About 20 minutes outbound we were in our first pod of common dolphins which had focused a small birdnado. We continued to see common dolphins all day including some larger birdnados that produced whales.
From 9:15 to 10:30 AM, we were surrounded by humpback whales at a position 3 miles north of the lanes. This area produced almost all of the whales that we would see today. Among the behaviors that we witnessed in this amazing location were several breaches in the distance, and one very close breach. We saw a couple of instances of lunge feeding on the surface. One whale had a brief episode of tail fluke slapping in the kelp.
At 11 o’clock we had moved onward and found two additional whales that were not part of the big hot zone. One of them went into tail-slapping phase.
Captain Dave took us directly over to the northern face of beautiful Santa Cruz Island and penetrated the worlds longest sea cave, the Painted Cave. It was surprisingly calm and glassy both in the mouth and in the depths of the cave today.
Dave and the crew proceeded West hoping to get up towards Santa Rosa and look for additional mammals. The oncoming wind and swell was relentless and kept us at 7 kts. We were approached by a handful of offshore bottlenose dolphins that immediately came to the boat. One of our friends, Juan, was on board and noticed that the bottlenose were actually part of a large group of Risso’s dolphins. The two species were traveling together! The White dolphins looked spectacular in the clear cobalt blue water. At one point I took a photograph with 28 of them in the frame.
The Risso’s exhibited an interesting pattern. When we found them, they were traveling east. Soon they turned around and ran west. A short while later they circled around the head east again. The benefit to both the dolphins and us whale watchers was when they were heading west they were busting head on into the oncoming seas. (very dramatic). When they switched to their eastbound travel, they were surfing the waves. (The truth is this may have just been a one big clever surfing scheme).
Dave and the crew continued moving to the far west in search of additional beasts. We ended up adjacent to the west end of beautiful Santa Rosa Island (See today’s tracks above). Eventually we had to make a u-turn and start heading back to the harbor. It was 27 miles to home in a straight line.
When we were approximately 8 miles south of UCSB, Captain Dave spotted a pair of additional humpback whales. They were heading west, directly into the oncoming seas. The wind was sending the spout spray high into the air, and the afternoon lighting emphasized the visuals. It didn’t take long before the two of them came over and mugged the Condor Express for quite a while. They worked both sides of the boat with gusto. What a great way to finish an epic voyage.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
NOTE: special thanks to everyone who drove from all over the place, including Southern California and Utah, to attend today’s marathon hunt. Additional thanks to the 9 Channel Islands Naturalist Corps members that were on board today. Finally, it’s going to take me a couple of weeks to process the 2000 photographs that I took today and put them on my website.
