2020 03-06 SB Coast
We ran two coastal cruises today. The first left the dock at 9am, the second at 12 noon. Totals for the day included: 2 humpback whales, 700 long-beaked common dolphins and 50 coastal bottlenose dolphins.
Captain Dave and his highly-skilled crew took advantage of the situation and ran two nearly identical whale watching trips. Both trips had very nice weather. Both followed approximately the same route and saw the same animals.
The first sighting on each adventure was of a very large, spread-out pod of coastal bottlenose dolphins. Approximately 30-40 individuals were watched each time and the encounter with them was enhanced by the good water clarity (see photo above). They were close to shore and found near Hendry’s in the morning and Hope Ranch in the afternoon.
After moving west towards UCSB, then offshore (south), an area of common dolphins feeding on northern anchovy bait balls was located. Each trip saw several hundred of these smaller, agile cetaceans in the aforementioned very clear water. The same common dolphin herd was seen again in the afternoon, and on each trip a juvenile humpback whale (with a nice, all white tail) was found feeding sub-surface.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express, and CondorExpressPhotos.com