2015 04-28 SB Coast
12 noon.
Immediately after leaving our customary visit with the California sea lions on the harbor entrance buoy we spotted 2 gray whales, a mother and calf. They led us west into the wind and their glowing bodies were easy to track in the previously mentioned clear water. Before long our attention was diverted to a mob of at least 25 porpoising sea lions that had just a single Pacific white-sided dolphin in the mix. (Sighting a single white-sider all by itself with a mob of sea lions raises a bunch of questions). Sharp-eyed Augie-the-deckhand found us about 8 coastal bottlenose dolphins traveling west in the kelp along the shore. They made one pass out to the Condor, then resumed their travel.
Up ahead of the bottlenose dolphins there were more tall spouts. This turned out to be 4 more gray whales, you guessed it, 2 mothers each with calves. The four stayed together the whole time, from our initial sighting with them at Hendry's Beach until we left them at Goleta. Further to the west off the Goleta Pier there was a mega-pod of long-beaked common dolphins scattered across a wide swath of ocean. There were easily 1,500 of these hungry little cetaceans and a bunch more sea lions joining the fun. Before long it was time to go and the course back to the harbor took us past a second group of 20 or so porpoising sea lions.
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Gray whale with giant kelp (Macrocystis) on its head. Like most marine mammals, gray whales seem to enjoy interacting with kelp.
Eschrichtius robustus & Macrocystis on head 2015 04-28 SB Coast-084
Gray whale with giant kelp (Macrocystis) on its head
Eschrichtius robustus & Macrocystis on head 2015 04-28 SB Coast-086
Gray whales near Shoreline Drive
Eschrichtius robustus 2015 04-28 SB Coast-a-010
Gray whales in the giant kelp forest, underwater
Eschrichtius robustus & Macrocystis on head 2015 04-28 SB Coast-094
The littoral current is shown transporting and ultimately depositing sand in the entrance to Santa Barbara Harbor forming a sandspit at the end of the breakwater. Left unchecked, sand would fill in and close off the harbor entrance.
sand deposition line 2015 04-28 SB Harbor-002
According to Jones, Swartz and Leatherwood in "The Gray Whale" bubble blasts by gray whales produce a distinct underwater sound, part of the gray whale phonation repertoire, and in Laguna San Ignacio this class of sound can be transmitted underwater at least 2.5 kilometers.
Eschrichtius robustus bubble blast & Macrocystis 2015 04-28 SB Coast-149
Gray whales underwater with the giant kelp canopy on the surface
Eschrichtius robustus FOUR & Macrocystis 2015 04-28 SB Coast-093
Profile of a submerged gray whale
Eschrichtius robustus UW 2015 04-28 SB Coast-066
