whales whales whales and dolphins too
Three trips left the SEA Landing today, as follows:
On the 9am adventure Captain Eric headed offshore to intercept a couple of friendly humpback whales. He located 2 of the knobby-headed beasts out near Platform Habitat and they proceeded to come over to the Condor Express and spy-hop and otherwise put on quite a show. Further inshore there were 3 gray whales which included a mother and her calf…heading west as expected. Along the way there were at least 500 common dolphins to add to the excitement. The day started off sunny and mild, but there was a small bump on the water from winds to the west. Ironically, it was more bumpy inside and more calm and flat outside.
On the 12 noon excursion we headed off to humpback land but the bump had filled in and although there were 200 or so common dolphins out there, we never did find the humpback whales again. On the inside there was another nice gray whale mother-calf pair. Good sightings were had on these as the conditions near the beach were now much improved.
Finally, on the 3pm trip, we ran east and found a total of 40+ coastal bottlenose dolphins in groups of 10 and 20 from East Beach down to Summerland. These were the friendliest bottlenose dolphins we’ve had all week…and that is saying something since this has been a great week for the large gray odontocetes. Off the Summerland coast we found yet another gray whale mom/calf duo. Again the looks were fantastic and the trip was a big success.
Tomorrow we run at 12 noon. You never know what Mother Nature has in store. Bob Perry Condor Express