2015 12-29 SB Channel
The humpback whale show..
Yes, it is southbound gray whale season. And, yes, we did watch 7 humpback whales today and no grays. You never know... Right? But the other good news is that the weather and sea conditions improved a lot over yesterday. Today we had little mini-swells from the west, and almost no wind. The visual vista was from Bony Ridge to the west end of Santa Rosa Island. With this much clarity it was inevitable that Captain Dave and his "eyes" deckhand Auggie would find whatever was out there.
Our first stop was on a massive pod of at least 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. The cool air temperature made the hot exhalations of these little cetaceans stand out against the blue water. It's not often you get to see all those spouts from a distance. While watching the dolphins we soon found ourselves alongside 4 jumbo-sized humpback whales. These may have been feeding subsurface as their down times were mostly short but there was no bait or seabird activity on the surface itself.
Moving east, the last 3 humpback whales were located and two of them threw their tails...separately and without warning (i.e., my excuse for no photographs). Again there were no small humpback whales seen.
Continuing on our eastward track we found two more pods of long-beaked common dolphins. The first was about 500 individuals and the second approximately 150.
The trip ended as Captain Dave gave his now famous talk about the offshore oil industry and Platform A specifically...all this as we drifted within 100 yards of that same infamous platform that caused the 1969 oil spill.
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Read MoreYes, it is southbound gray whale season. And, yes, we did watch 7 humpback whales today and no grays. You never know... Right? But the other good news is that the weather and sea conditions improved a lot over yesterday. Today we had little mini-swells from the west, and almost no wind. The visual vista was from Bony Ridge to the west end of Santa Rosa Island. With this much clarity it was inevitable that Captain Dave and his "eyes" deckhand Auggie would find whatever was out there.
Our first stop was on a massive pod of at least 2000 long-beaked common dolphins. The cool air temperature made the hot exhalations of these little cetaceans stand out against the blue water. It's not often you get to see all those spouts from a distance. While watching the dolphins we soon found ourselves alongside 4 jumbo-sized humpback whales. These may have been feeding subsurface as their down times were mostly short but there was no bait or seabird activity on the surface itself.
Moving east, the last 3 humpback whales were located and two of them threw their tails...separately and without warning (i.e., my excuse for no photographs). Again there were no small humpback whales seen.
Continuing on our eastward track we found two more pods of long-beaked common dolphins. The first was about 500 individuals and the second approximately 150.
The trip ended as Captain Dave gave his now famous talk about the offshore oil industry and Platform A specifically...all this as we drifted within 100 yards of that same infamous platform that caused the 1969 oil spill.
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"Pete," the black-crowned night heron sits for a portrait in the early morning light at the docks, Santa Barbara Harbor.
Nycticorax nycticorax CLOSE UP 2015 12-29 SB Channel-013
Mega-spout; humpback whale. Santa Cruz Island in back.
Megaptera novaeangliae 2015 12-28 SB Channel-b-003
