2019 04-23 SB Coast Captain Dave and the crew of the Condor express ran three trips today: 9 AM, 12 noon, and 3 PM. It was a sunny day with blue skies and no wind until the afternoon trip. Sightings included 7+ humpback whales, 4 gray whales, and 50 long-beaked common dolphins. On the morning trip we ran up the coast and didn’t find any gray whales so around UCSB we turned offshore. About 4 miles out there was a single big adult humpback. In the distance 2 other humpbacks breached simultaneously… A double breach! On the noon trip we ran up the coast again and this time found a mother gray whale with her calf. We followed them from Hendrys Beach all the way up to Goleta Bay. The mother gray whale did some spy hopping (was she looking for her kid) and they both rolled around quite a bit in the kelp. Moving offshore a small herd of common dolphins located the boat and we all got great looks. Finally, while we were still outside, another very big adult humpback whale was watched.
On the 3 o’clock trip we again ran to the west and found it yet another mother gray whale with her calf. They were found off Ledbetter and we found them all the way up to about More Mesa. By now there was a moderate breeze, but nothing fancy. We moved offshore, about 5 miles out, and located three single humpback whales. There were many more spouts in the area.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry.
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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