Three amazing humpbacks in the wind, with dolphins and sea lions.
- Bob Perry
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Image: a humpback whale lets loose with a huge tail throw on a windy ocean.
2026 07–08 SB Channel
You don’t get to be captain of the Condor Express by not learning a few things. Today’s Marine forecast was looking pretty bad. But after studying the reports and the charts, captain Dave decided to keep things on the N side of the lanes, and avoid going far to the D where winds were going crazy. It was choppy, then things calmed down a little bit. By the time we were ready to go home the wind filled in. It was sunny all day. Sightings for the day: 3000 common dolphins, 4 humpback whales (we closely watched 3 of them), 20 California sea lions and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
10:40 AM our first dolphin pod contained 100 animals. We stayed with them for a while and then continued on our heading to the S.
11:15 AM we spent over 1/2 hour observing a megpod of at least 1000 common dolphins that demonstrated every kind of imaginable aerial activity. We witnessed tail slaps, tail walking, chin slaps, and repeated leaping, often by many dolphins simultaneously. There were quite a few calves in this pod… and they got airborne as well!
By 11:40 AM we were in an area with several spouts all around us. Turned out to be 3 very cooperative humpback whales plus 1 whale in the distance (that we never did get close to). The 3 main whales included 1 mature male (heavily scarred dorsal fin), 1 smaller adult/probable female, and 1 not-too-small calf. It was a unique social structure. At first, the male and the calf were inseparable, so much so that we thought the male might be its mom. Through tail ID however we found out the truth about its gender. Meanwhile, a third whale was in the area and joined to make a trio. This was probably a female…was it the mother? The 3 Whales tried out different combinations amongst themselves which made them lots of fun to watch.
During the above session, we drifted past a small ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
