A giant blue whale shows its mighty tail flukes. Photo: www.CondorExpressPhotos.com
Things got a little bit BLUE today !
Our one and only common dolphin herd was encountered a few miles south of Santa Barbara Harbor. The 500 or so #dolphins were inquisitive and friendly and loved by all. We then picked up speed and headed for the feeding grounds off Santa Rosa Island where giant blue whales and big humpback whales are typically found in July and throughout the summer. Sure enough, there were very tall spouts in all directions. We closely watched 5 giant blue whales; I counted at least that many more all around us in the near distance. Down times ranged from a scant 5 minutes to around 8 minutes, and a couple of the #bluewhales fluked up on deep dives, as you can see in the photograph above. After everyone on board had big whales mesmerizing them, we pushed to the north.
Just off Hope Ranch more spouts were seen, this time it was 3 or 4 humpback whales, two of which were very friendly. We spotted these humpbacks because one of them slapped its long pectoral fins on the ocean surface a few times. This was a great sighting and capped off a wonderful day out on the Santa Barbara Channel.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express