Spectacular wind, waves and sun gave hearty whale watchers looks at a blue whale, some humpbacks and more.
- Bob Perry
- Jul 5, 2024
- 1 min read
Image: a giant blue whale heads into the on-coming wind and seas.
2024 07-05 SB Channel
Captain Eddy and the crew ran towards the West End of beautiful Santa Cruz Island and ended up in The Lanes north of Prisoner’s Harbor. The beautiful calm, glassy seas near Santa Barbara was in sharp contrast with the moderate winds and choppy seas found offshore. Nonetheless, the sharp-eyed and multi-talented crew had good sightings today: 2 humpback whales, 1 fin whale, 1 giant blue whale, and 300 common dolphins.
An actively feeding, yet very friendly, pod of dolphins was watched for a while not far off The Mesa. But our quest for larger cetaceans required that visit to be quick.
Upon first entering The Lanes, we had wonderful looks and a mother humpback whale with her calf. Both were exceedingly friendly and, at one point, mom put p her large tail fluke very close to the bow of the Condor Express in slow-motion, dramatic fashion. Shortly thereafter we had a very quick look at a shy fin whale that spouted once, then sank beneath the rough seas. As SCUBA divers know, it is much easier to swim underwater when the surface is roiled.
We moved slowly towards a giant spout due to sea conditions and ended up watching two surface intervals from a single, giant blue whale that dove for 15 minutes. While it was up, it was moving west into the on-coming seas, as described above. (See today’s photo for an example).
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
