Noon trip watches gray whale breaching and much more!

Image: A breaching gray whale in the Santa Barbara Channel.

2024 03-26 SB Channel 

Skies were blue, winds were light, and a small residual bump from overnight was around us all day. Sightings were good: 1 gray whale, 1 Minke whale, 75 long-beaked common dolphins and 50 California sea lions. (NOTE: We record only significant numbers of open ocean sea lions, not buoy or harbor animals, unless otherwise noted).

The noon trip hit the virtual jackpot. After a nice survey loop out to the southeast, we ended up closer to shore near Carpinteria (so named because it was the Chumash carpenter’s home base for tomol, or redwood plank canoe, production and repair). The sightings here included an active sub-adult gray whale that breached three times in row (see today’s photo for an example). We also had a visitor in the form of a friendly Minke whale that swam around the boat for a while. Everyone had good looks. After the Minke, we encountered and watched the same gray whale again.

On the way home a birdnatito attracted dolphins and sea lions.  Fun!

You never know what Mother Nature has in store.

Bob Perry

Condor Express, and

CondorExpressPhotos.com