2009 07-08 SB Channel
Close look at a Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) exhaling.
We call them "Lags," a shortened slang version of their scientific name, Lagenorhyncus obliquidens. Two pairs, each is a mother with her calf. Mom's (cows) are exhaling a bubble stream just below the surface.
Pacific White Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obliquidens) - Two pairs, each with a mom and her calf. Notice how the cows keep their bodies between the boat and their calves to protect them.
The Pacific White-sided Dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obliquidens) visit the whalers on board the Condor Express. Image 1 of 2.
The Pacific White-sided Dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obliquidens) visit the whalers on board the Condor Express. Image 2 of 2.
Long, sleek and blue: a Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) slowly rises from beneath the surface.
Spout: Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
A drifting kelp paddy composed of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) and Surf Grass (Phyllospadix torreyi) on the open ocean. Kelp paddies are extremely important and interesting vectors of algal and animal dispersal, as well as providing just about the only shelter available to fish and mammals in the blue water realm.
Here we see a kelp paddy (Macrocystis pyrifera) being used as an open ocean rest stop by six Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis).
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae) individuals are identified and tracked using their tail flukes...the margins and color patterns of the bottom (ventral) surface distinguish one whale from another. Compare this whale to the one in the previous picture. Captain Mat thinks those white rake markings are from a Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) attack.
Three Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaengliae) on the surface together
The splashguard and blowholes of a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaengliae).
Two Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaengliae), one spouts, one arches its "hump."
A curious California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) stops by the Condor Express to check out the action.
Classic wood Santa Barbara fishing vessel, the Sal-C, carrying crab traps out to the island fishing grounds.
