2015 01-31 SB Channel
It was a sunny day with glassy seas as we left Santa Barbara Harbor on the original Condor and headed south. Common dolphins were around us for the duration of the trip, and were spectacular to watch as they sliced through the mirror-like surface. Out past the oil rigs we found two humpback whales, one much larger than the other. It was not a cow-calf pair, but perhaps a female with her yearling. We were brought to these whales by sighting a breach by one of them when we were still a couple of miles away. The pair of humpbacks had long down times ranging between 8 and 15 minutes. On the surface their spouts were nicely illuminated by the morning sun, and they fluked up on almost every dive. On the way back, perhaps a half mile outside the Harbor, we encountered 8 or 10 inshore bottlenose dolphins that ran with us, surfed our wake and rode the bow.
The afternoon trip also had great sea conditions with a very light breeze. By the time we relocated the humpback duo they had moved about 3 miles southeast of where we left them on the morning trip. Their dive pattern remained about the same, and again they covered a lot of distance as they were submerged each time. Rather soon after we got located on the pair, they reversed direction and after we watched them we ended up leaving them almost exactly where we left them on the morning trip. Although there were no dolphins around in the afternoon, we did have a lot of California sea lions playing in the very clear blue water. You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
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Read MoreThe afternoon trip also had great sea conditions with a very light breeze. By the time we relocated the humpback duo they had moved about 3 miles southeast of where we left them on the morning trip. Their dive pattern remained about the same, and again they covered a lot of distance as they were submerged each time. Rather soon after we got located on the pair, they reversed direction and after we watched them we ended up leaving them almost exactly where we left them on the morning trip. Although there were no dolphins around in the afternoon, we did have a lot of California sea lions playing in the very clear blue water. You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
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Two humpback whales side by side.
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 01-31 SB Channel-c-046
Humpback tail flukes.
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 01-31 SB Channel-d-025
This humpback whale dragged a single giant kelp streamer around on its tail for at least 3 diving cycles.
Megaptera novaeangliae tail with Macrocystis 2015 01-31 SB Channel-329
Tall spout in the breeze.
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 01-31 SB Channel-d-033
A pair of California sea lions.
Zalophus californianus 2015 01-31 SB Channel-024
California sea lion.
Zalophus californianus 2015 01-31 SB Channel-008
