We ran west to El Capitán and it was amazing.
- Bob Perry
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
Image: a pair of humpback whales with California sea lions and various sea birds, on the edge of a birdnado.
2026 08–19 SB Channel
Everything was ideal today: no wind, sunny skies, crystal clearwater… except… there was a 3 to 4 foot wind chop. Eddy kept the Condor Express steady by staying close to the mainland shore as we traveled to the far W. Sightings were phenomenal: 25 humpback whales (we closely watch 15), 2500 common dolphins, 2 Minke whales, and 200 California sea lions.
We encountered our first dolphin pod as we passed by Goleta Bay. They appeared to be in travel mode. We spent about 15 minutes watching them before continuing our trek] to the W.
We observed active birdnados, with associated marine life (see today’s photo for an example) from a spot 5 miles S of platform Holly, to a spot 5 miles S of El Capitán. The activity continued as far as the eye could see to the W, we were a long way from the Harbor could not . It was truly an amazing concentration of biomass. Most of the feeding was sub-surface, so we did not see any lunge-feeding by the whales. There were several mighty tail throws and a couple of inadvertent close passes which were memorable.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
