2015 08-03 SB Channel

Captain Eric likes to zig zag through the known hot spots. In fact, his beard is reminiscent of the famous Man himself. So it was that we found ourselves on the Condor Express with a moderately small chop and a day when the wind did not pick up until after 12 noon. It was bright, sunny and the water remained that crystal Santa Barbara Cobalt. True to his word, Eric zigged, then zagged, knowing full well that the many humpback whales he recorded on yesterday's excursion had moved out of that area for richer pastures. So his angular search pattern was employed.

At 1045 am the first round of interactions began when ol' Eagle-Eyed Augie the deckhand and bon vivant spotted spouts on one of the zigs (or was it a zag?). We found ourselves in a hot spot with a wide field of northern anchovies being kept tight by diving black-vented shearwaters, elegant terns, long-beaked common dolphins, California sea lions, and whale fans on board the Condor. There were actually 5 humpback #whales in this first area alongside at least 1,500 #dolphins and one very large Minke whale. Eric stayed with this hot spot and patiently moved from one whale to the next. A large whitey-pects made a straight line run at the boat and came down the starboard side within a few dozen yards so everyone could appreciate its magnificence in that clear water.

After a long session with the aforementioned cetaceans, 1245 pm found us on another zag (or was it a zig?) where a second large hot spot was slowly wandering around with the same compliment of animals feeding on the northern anchovies. This time there were 3 more humpbacks and 1,500 additional #dolphins. One humpback had a slight tail fin deformity on the left corner and this may have been the cause of it always diving while twisting its body slightly to the left. Eric nicknamed it "Lefty." Lefty showed its appreciation by a completely random and unexpected full-body breach about 25 yards in front of our bow.




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