Image: An adult humpback whale slaps each it’s long pectoral fins while rolling around over and over. We’ve called this maneuver “The Windmill.”
2024 07-12 SB Channel
The ocean was very calm today and skies were covered by a dense, gray stratus layer. A few “sucker holes” of sunlight broke through here and there. Sightings for the day included: 12+ humpback whales, 2 Minke whales, 8000 common dolphins and 2 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
Continuing the common dolphin surge, we were surrounded by pods, both large and small, starting just 3 miles offshore. Small pods were in the hundreds and the large ones were true megapods, in the thousands. Dolphins are here to feed on baitfish, and so are the humpback whales.
As we entered a dolphin/humpback hotspot south of the Kelp Farm, we had quick looks at 2 individual Minke whales. They, too, were here to gobble fish. Our first spot eventually produced 8 closely watched whales, a group of 4 followed by another quartet later. In the first batch, we watched a cow-calf air plus two additional adults. First the calf, then some of the adults, began rolling around, swimming upside down and slapping their pectoral flippers. (See today’s photograph for an example).
We crossed The Lanes near the west end of Santa Cruz Island and watched another pair of humpbacks (with dolphins, of course. On the way home, just south of the Kelp Farm again, we saw 2 more very big adults.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
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