Captain Dave and the crew headed south and then southeast during two fantastic excursions today. Skies were sunny and clear. An early morning bump quickly subsided, and only a trace of wind developed late in the day. Sightings included: 800 common dolphins, 354 offshore bottlenose dolphins and 4 gray whales (We believe we saw the same two whales on the two separate trips).
On the 9a-1130a excursion, things got started just 4 miles south of The Harbor. We encountered a large pod of highly active offshore bottlenose dolphins. The group was spread out over more than a mile of water and moving east. There were lots of calves. The dolphins wrote our bow and our wake. There were plenty of aerial antics to watch.
During a brief tour of Platform Alpha, Captain Dave discussed offshore oil and gas platforms work, as well as their history in the Santa Barbara Channel. We stopped to watch a mega pod of common dolphins. These smaller dolphins also rode our wake and came by the for a friendly look at their fans on board the Condor Express. At one point, the Dolphins took off on a high-speed stampede, as though someone flipped a switch. The behavior came to an end as quickly as it started, but wow, what a sight. At this point we were just south of Platform Habitat where we had great looks at 2 adult gray whales that co-Captain Eddie spotted at a considerable distance.
On the 12n-230p adventure, Captain Dave took us directly to the spot where the gray whales were last sighted. This time the whales had partnered-up with 4 offshore bottlenose dolphins. The group was inseparable as we watch them for an hour and a half. There was a tremendous amount of interaction between the two species, as well as a lot of interspecies stuff. The gray whales appeared to be engaged in courtship behavior, including rolling around and climbing on the backs of each other. All the while, dolphins were leaping over them and jumping around. What a spectacle of nature!
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry www.condorespressphotos.com