Tips for aspiring whale spotters: Here's a look at the windy, choppy ocean surface north of San Miguel Island. It is a view from the flying bridge of the Condor Express, where the captain and crew members look for whales. The image has been cropped and enlarged to show the tall Blue Whale spouts in the middle. On this day, Captain Mat was spotted these spouts at an approximate distance of 4 miles by looking for the darker, grey spouts against the lighter cloudy background. Polarizing sunglasses, and polarizing camera lens filters, help a lot.

Tips for aspiring whale spotters: Here's a look at the windy, choppy ocean surface north of San Miguel Island. It is a view from the flying bridge of the Condor Express, where the captain and crew members look for whales. The image has been cropped and enlarged to show the tall Blue Whale spouts in the middle. On this day, Captain Mat was spotted these spouts at an approximate distance of 4 miles by looking for the darker, grey spouts against the lighter cloudy background. Polarizing sunglasses, and polarizing camera lens filters, help a lot.