2016 01-15 SB Channel
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Captain Dave spotted a megapod of southbound gray whales.
It was not until we were closer to the megapod that we all appreciated what, indeed, we were looking at. The gray whales moved parallel to Santa Cruz Island for a while, then struck an almost direct, northerly course towards mid-Channel. We stayed with this group for an hour, and we could only guess that sometime later in the afternoon they would make a course change and get back on track for Mexico.
The actual number of individuals in this megapod is hard to determine exactly. First there were the fog patches, add to that the strong winds, mix in some nice salt spray and angular winter lighting, and counting became a challenge. I watched one of their regular, every-5-minute surfacings through my telephoto lens and counted out loud as tail flukes were kicked up. I tallied 16 tail flukes then added more to the count for those that did not fluke up when sounding. I thought 20 gray whales in the pod was pretty accurate. Another crew member said he counted 26. Captain Dave was the conservative with a solid 18.
The sight of all those spouts and tail flukes amidst fairly rough seas with winds blowing the spout spray asunder....well, it just doesn't get any better than this !
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Read MoreCaptain Dave spotted a megapod of southbound gray whales.
It was not until we were closer to the megapod that we all appreciated what, indeed, we were looking at. The gray whales moved parallel to Santa Cruz Island for a while, then struck an almost direct, northerly course towards mid-Channel. We stayed with this group for an hour, and we could only guess that sometime later in the afternoon they would make a course change and get back on track for Mexico.
The actual number of individuals in this megapod is hard to determine exactly. First there were the fog patches, add to that the strong winds, mix in some nice salt spray and angular winter lighting, and counting became a challenge. I watched one of their regular, every-5-minute surfacings through my telephoto lens and counted out loud as tail flukes were kicked up. I tallied 16 tail flukes then added more to the count for those that did not fluke up when sounding. I thought 20 gray whales in the pod was pretty accurate. Another crew member said he counted 26. Captain Dave was the conservative with a solid 18.
The sight of all those spouts and tail flukes amidst fairly rough seas with winds blowing the spout spray asunder....well, it just doesn't get any better than this !
----- ---- --- -- - >< o>
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![A gray whale megapod panorama. [A note to perspective print buyers: order this print by the maximum width you want. Upon arrival you will need to trim the image height and then frame or matte as you wish. A custom canvas would also work.]](https://photos.smugmug.com/2016/2016-01-15-SB-Channel/i-KbRLcbF/3/ee8ab2c1/L/Eschrichtius%20robustus%20megapod%20PANO%202016%2001-15%20SB%20Channel-194-L.jpg)
A gray whale megapod panorama. [A note to perspective print buyers: order this print by the maximum width you want. Upon arrival you will need to trim the image height and then frame or matte as you wish. A custom canvas would also work.]
Eschrichtius robustus megapod PANO 2016 01-15 SB Channel-194
