Stampedes but no megapods, plus a wide-spread humpback dive/travel pattern today.
- Bob Perry
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
2025 07-17 SB Channel
The Condor Express moved south as far as the Separation Zone with a gray stratus layer, calm seas and not much wind until late in the trip when a light breeze filled in. Sightings for the day included: 3500 common dolphins, 7 humpback whales and 1 Minke whale.
Medium-sized dolphin pods, none over 400 individuals, were, as Captain Dave said, “ev-er-y-where” we roamed today. Our first encounter was south of The Farm, which included a one-and-done Minke whale sighting. The final pod was in the Separation Zone. There were quite a few seemingly unprovoked stampedes. (See today’s image for an example).
Southwest of The Farm, and off the Goleta coast, 3 individual humpback whales were observed. Their behavior set us up for a pattern that repeated itself with future encounters: a long surface interval at travel speed, then a short 4 min dive during which the whale would swim an astonishing random distance, then surfacing again. Some nice tail flukes were seen.
Just north of The Lanes the above pattern was seen with 2 more individual whales. Same for an individual humpback we found in the Separation Zone, except this one made a few close passes by the Condor Express and exposed it’s white-topped pectoral flippers.
On the way home a lone more active whale observation took place. Repeated pectoral fin slapping was seen in the distance. Arriving on the scene, the slapping session ended and the humpback went on a long duration, long distance dive. When it finally surfaced again, you guessed it….more pec slapping!
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
