2015 08-26 SB Channel

Captain Dave and his renowned crew, including Eagle-Eyed Augie and Big Steve, located several hot areas full of marine life today. It was a sunny, cloudless day, and hot when the boat slowed down. The mill pond glass surface lasted all day. Our first stop was to watch 100 or so long-beaked common dolphins around 1038 am. Quite a few little calves were mixed in with this pod, and one little beast took off by itself and zoomed all around the bow of the Condor Express before finding its mother again. Stretching out !

Moving west, by 1105 we were on another 600 long-beaked common #dolphins, one big, friendly Minke whale, and eventually (as we patrolled the zone) 10 humpback whales. One of the humpbacks was the same injured whale we saw last week that had two deep v-grooves in its tail stock. Late in the sighting, two humpbacks did some surface lunge feeding...always spectacular to see!

At noon we headed south for Santa Cruz Island and the world famous Painted Cave. It took about an hour to drive over there and do the tour, then we were "on the hunt" as we headed back across the Santa Barbara Channel. Twenty minutes later we had a region that produced 4 more humpback whales. One of the larger individuals did a bit of kelping which always thrills the vegetarians and carnivores alike. Another 500 dolphins kept the humpbacks company.

Our final sighting of the day was at 208 pm and 3 more humpbacks were sighted in the middle of several large pods of common dolphins, perhaps 750 total for this spot. The water was clear and the whales kicked up their flukes often in the bright sun. What more could any whale watcher want?

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Image 1 of 3: surface lunge feeding humpback whales.
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 08-26 SB Channel-002
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 Channel 002
Image 2 of 3: surface lunge feeding humpback whales
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 08-26 SB Channel-004
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 Channel 004
Image 3 of 3: surface lunge feeding humpback whales
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 08-26 SB Channel-012
Megaptera novaeangliae lunge feeding 2015 Channel 012
Tail walking? a long-beaked common dolphin.
Delphinus capensis 2015 08-26 SB Channel-041
Delphinus capensis 2015 Channel 041
Breaking the glass: a long-beaked common dolphin.
Delphinus capensis 2015 08-26 SB Channel-007
Delphinus capensis 2015 Channel 007
Image 1 of 3: a kelping humpback whale.
Megaptera novaeangliae & Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 08-26 SB Channel-d-049
Megaptera novaeangliae Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 Channel 049
Image 2 of 3: a kelping humpback whale.
Megaptera novaeangliae & Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 08-26 SB Channel-314
Megaptera novaeangliae Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 Channel 314
Image 3 of 3: a kelping humpback whale.
Megaptera novaeangliae & Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 08-26 SB Channel-d-069
Megaptera novaeangliae Macrocystis pyrifera KELPING 2015 Channel 069
Image 1 of 3: long-beaked common dolphin mother and calf.
Delphinus capensis cow-calf 2015 08-26 SB Channel-025
Delphinus capensis cow calf 2015 Channel 025
Image 2 of 3: long-beaked common dolphin mother and calf.
Delphinus capensis cow-calf 2015 08-26 SB Channel-012
Delphinus capensis cow calf 2015 Channel 012
Image 3 of 3: long-beaked common dolphin mother and calf.
Delphinus capensis cow-calf 2015 08-26 SB Channel-021
Delphinus capensis cow calf 2015 Channel 021
Long-beaked common dolphin herd on the move: stampede.
Delphinus capensis line high speed 2015 08-26 SB Channel-016
Delphinus capensis line high speed 2015 Channel 016
Surfing an open ocean swell - long-beaked common dolphin.
Delphinus capensis cow-calf 2015 08-26 SB Channel-006
Delphinus capensis cow calf 2015 Channel 006
Panorama: a high-speed running long-beaked common dolphin.
Delphinus capensis line high speed PANORAMA 2015 08-26 SB Channel-022
Delphinus capensis line high speed PANORAMA 2015 Channel 022
Humpback whale tail flukes waterfall.
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 08-26 SB Channel-g-014
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 Channel 014
A friendly humpback whale makes new friends.
Megaptera novaeangliae & passengers 2015 08-26 SB Channel-z-021
Megaptera novaeangliae passengers 2015 Channel 021
Humpback whale with two deep v-shaped wounds in its back near the tail stock.
Megaptera novaeangliae tail stock wound 2015 08-26 SB Channel-b-004
Megaptera novaeangliae tail stock wound 2015 Channel 004
Red-necked phalarope in flight.
Phalaropus lobatus 2015 08-26 SB Channel-006
Phalaropus lobatus 2015 Channel 006

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2015 08-26 SB Channel

Location of today's photographs.