One of two very friendly humpback whales spyhops in front of its fan club. Photo – Robert Perry CondorExpressPhotos
Ring Around the Condor Express Rosie
After making a wide, slow circle to exit the area surrounding Santa Barbara Harbor where the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and her supporting vessels were operating, it was a bit of a bumpy ride out to the feeding grounds today. There was bright sunlight from moderate winds and medium seas…winds that were forecast to arrive later in the day came early. This did not stop the show from going on. Once on the grounds we found a nice friendly humpback #whale right off the bat. Soon the lone whale was joined by another, and the two began a 2-hour mugging of the Condor Express that followed a repeating pattern. The whales surfaced close to the back on the port side of the Condor, they then proceeded forward as they spouted and slid a few feet below the crystal blue water, still very close to the boat. Next they turned in towards our bow, and cut right across our path spouting then putting up their enormous tail flukes. Over and over the “two played ring around the rosie” with us as passengers went wild. Nearly 2 hours later a third humpback came in and the threesome sent a few hundred yards away and did some socializing that involved trumpet blows and a bit of rolling around. About that time a huge blue whale surface near us and we watched several breathing cycles from this magnificent creature before it was time to say good bye and head home. Around us there were more spouts from humpback whale and blue whales alike. I’ll put my photos of the trip online sometime tomorrow afternoon. It was wild !
You never know what Mother Nature has in store Bob Perry Condor Express