2014 10-02 SB Channel
THE Place to Be
It was flat, calm, sunny, clear skies, clear water, no wind and drop dead gorgeous all day. I have personally never seen so many long beaked common dolphins so concentrated in the north eastern Santa Barbara Channel. There were pods of dolphins everywhere we roamed. At least 3,000 dolphins were closely watched. Most of these little cetaceans were on hot spots full of sea birds and sea lions to the chagrin of the northern anchovy population. Picture a flat smooth blue ocean with hot spots of activity here and there as far as you can see. A few of these hot spots were robust and active, in fact we found one of our 3 humpback whales joining in on a feeding frenzy on one of them. The one largest hot spot had a gang of several dozen California sea lions and a couple hundred dolphins. Sea birds, especially black vented shearwaters, were flying circles around the spot and diving. It was an amazing sight to see. Two earlier humpback whales were located farther to the east and had long down times...near 15 minutes on a couple of dives. Three or so Minke whales were also around the active regions. The Santa Barbara Channel is one of the coolest locations around and is definitely THE place to be.
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Read MoreIt was flat, calm, sunny, clear skies, clear water, no wind and drop dead gorgeous all day. I have personally never seen so many long beaked common dolphins so concentrated in the north eastern Santa Barbara Channel. There were pods of dolphins everywhere we roamed. At least 3,000 dolphins were closely watched. Most of these little cetaceans were on hot spots full of sea birds and sea lions to the chagrin of the northern anchovy population. Picture a flat smooth blue ocean with hot spots of activity here and there as far as you can see. A few of these hot spots were robust and active, in fact we found one of our 3 humpback whales joining in on a feeding frenzy on one of them. The one largest hot spot had a gang of several dozen California sea lions and a couple hundred dolphins. Sea birds, especially black vented shearwaters, were flying circles around the spot and diving. It was an amazing sight to see. Two earlier humpback whales were located farther to the east and had long down times...near 15 minutes on a couple of dives. Three or so Minke whales were also around the active regions. The Santa Barbara Channel is one of the coolest locations around and is definitely THE place to be.
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Close look at a humpback spout
Megaptera novaeangliae 2014 10-02 SB Channel-c-040
Minke whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata 2014 10-02 SB Channel-b-002
California sea lion
Zalophus californianus 2014 10-02 SB Channel-005
