2013 06-17 SB Coast
2,000 common dolphins
1 minke whale (fleeting glimpse)
Well, whale lovers, it did not take Captain Mat very long to locate humpback whales today. Due to his talent for smelling out whales out of a vast Pacific Ocean, all the whales we watched closely were within a half dozen or so miles from shore, and at times very close indeed. But the real fun was the abundance of anchovy schools again in the northern Channel which kept the whales moving and feeding like a huge all-you-can-eat cafeteria. At one point a mother and calf humpback whale pair breached repeatedly well within visual range. This same duo then began surface lunge feeding on one bait ball after another. At another point in the trip, a very unusual behavior from the huge mother whale was witnessed by all: she did a “head stand,” with her body vertical and at least half of it out of the water, tail flukes in the air. She looked like the whale impression of the Statue of Liberty off the Santa Barbara Coast. We see milder versions of this posture when some humpbacks perform a tail slap or lob-tail, but in this case the straight up and down position was followed by her slow vertical descent into the deep. Another smaller whale was making a bee-line to the east Channel when it suddenly turned 90-degrees to enjoy a few minutes of serious kelping. (Kelping is when humpback whales roll around and rub their bodies in a paddy of drifting giant kelp and other species of sea veggies…often accompanied by pectoral slapping, etc) Another larger whale was our friend “Moustachio” with the damaged frontal baleen that hangs our like a bushy moustache. (The sub-Order Mysticeti to which baleen whales belong derives its name from the latin name for moustache…as a side note).
Of course there were plenty of common dolphins feeding all around with numerous sea lions and sea birds joining the feast. Sunny skies and fairly calm, almost glassy sea conditions prevailed.
Whales including recognizable individuals Rope, Moustachio, and another that has a recent prop scar were seen today. By the way, the whale we call Moustachio has been identified by John
Calambokidis of Cascadia Research as CRC ID 10904. "It has been seen going back to 1995 mostly off S California but also up to northern California. Damaged baleen apparent in the 2011
photos but earlier photos do not show enough to tell condition." For other images of this individual whale, see
http://www.CondorExpressPhotos.com/Other/2011-10-30-SB-Channel and
http://www.CondorExpressPhotos.com/Other/2013-06-14-SB-Channel
Be sure to click on "Map This" to see where we went.
Image 1 of 5: A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is observed kelping....intentionally messing around in a drifting paddy of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) and other seaweeds.
Image 2 of 5: A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is observed kelping....intentionally messing around in a drifting paddy of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) and other seaweeds.
Image 3 of 5: A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is observed kelping....intentionally messing around in a drifting paddy of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) and other seaweeds.
Image 4 of 5: A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is observed kelping....intentionally messing around in a drifting paddy of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) and other seaweeds.
Image 5 of 5: A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is observed kelping....intentionally messing around in a drifting paddy of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) and other seaweeds.
Two surface lunge feeding humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The whale on the left has damaged baleen and I call it "Moustachio."
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingMoustachio2013Channel001
Two surface lunge feeding humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The whale on the left has damaged baleen and I call it "Moustachio."
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingMoustachio2013Channel002
A very close up look at a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that has damaged baleen.
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingMoustachio2013Channel009
This is Moustachio, a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with damaged frontal baleen. The baleen now has stalked barnacles growing on it.
Megaptera novaeangliae surface lunge feeding Moustachio 2013 06-17 SB Channel-245
MegapteranovaeangliaesurfacelungefeedingMoustachio2013Channel245
Megaptera novaeangliae Macrocystis kelping 2013 06-17 SB Channel-045
Zalophus californianus 2013 06-17 SB Channel-012
