2020 08-29 All Day SB Channel
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This was our summer all-day trip which departed at 8a and returned around 5p. The Santa Barbara Channel was flat and calm, and mirror glass for most of the morning. You can see our route in the graphic above. I’ll detail the trip below. Sightings included: 8+ giant blue whales, 1 humpback whale, 2000 long-beaked common dolphins, 1500 short-beaked common dolphins, 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins and 2 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: We left the harbor, ran southeast and spent quality time in the land of the giants. After exhausting most of the wildlife there, Dave moved us slightly west to visit and penetrate the world-famous Painted Cave. After the cave, we headed to the far western Channel, passing along the entire northern face of Santa Rosa, then turning into the San Miguel Passage. Here we stopped close to shore on the south side of Cardwell Point (San Miguel Island) to see the throngs of pinnipeds on the pristine sand beaches. Moving offshore (south) of San Miguel Island, we searched for wildlife until we were 5 or 6 miles out. On the way home we watched dolphins.
After numerous scattered dolphin pods on our way south in the early morning, we came upon a huge dorsal fin sticking out of the water. It belonged to a monstrous ocean sunfish (Mola mola). The beast stayed submerged except for its fin. But peering into the clear blue water everyone saw one of the largest ocean sunfish ever. Soon thereafter, 2nd Captain Colton spotted a nice-sized pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins. They were exceptionally active and aerial today, and numerous calves were in the mix.
The land of the giants has remained stationary for the past couple of days. Again we saw a region that stretched for several miles that contained at least 15 giant blue whales. We carefully watched 8 of them, including our friend with the distinctive tail, Uno. Later Captain Dave spotted and put us into position for a nice interaction with a humpback whale.
Everyone seemed to have really enjoyed the large whales, so Dave headed for San Miguel Island in hopes of finding more of them. At San Miguel we tucked in around the backside of Cardwell Point to watch hundreds of California sea lions and a half-dozen elephant seals. All were resting/sleeping in the warm sand but close enough to the surf to make an escape if an emergency should arise. It was a phenomenal and awesome sight.
The journey home featured several long-beaked common dolphin mega pods, and one huge mega pod of their short-beaked cousins. The short-beaked common dolphins were very active and high-flying. Even the tiny calves were getting some air. Everywhere one looked there were several dolphins tail-walking and/or leaping high.
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Read MoreThis was our summer all-day trip which departed at 8a and returned around 5p. The Santa Barbara Channel was flat and calm, and mirror glass for most of the morning. You can see our route in the graphic above. I’ll detail the trip below. Sightings included: 8+ giant blue whales, 1 humpback whale, 2000 long-beaked common dolphins, 1500 short-beaked common dolphins, 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins and 2 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: We left the harbor, ran southeast and spent quality time in the land of the giants. After exhausting most of the wildlife there, Dave moved us slightly west to visit and penetrate the world-famous Painted Cave. After the cave, we headed to the far western Channel, passing along the entire northern face of Santa Rosa, then turning into the San Miguel Passage. Here we stopped close to shore on the south side of Cardwell Point (San Miguel Island) to see the throngs of pinnipeds on the pristine sand beaches. Moving offshore (south) of San Miguel Island, we searched for wildlife until we were 5 or 6 miles out. On the way home we watched dolphins.
After numerous scattered dolphin pods on our way south in the early morning, we came upon a huge dorsal fin sticking out of the water. It belonged to a monstrous ocean sunfish (Mola mola). The beast stayed submerged except for its fin. But peering into the clear blue water everyone saw one of the largest ocean sunfish ever. Soon thereafter, 2nd Captain Colton spotted a nice-sized pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins. They were exceptionally active and aerial today, and numerous calves were in the mix.
The land of the giants has remained stationary for the past couple of days. Again we saw a region that stretched for several miles that contained at least 15 giant blue whales. We carefully watched 8 of them, including our friend with the distinctive tail, Uno. Later Captain Dave spotted and put us into position for a nice interaction with a humpback whale.
Everyone seemed to have really enjoyed the large whales, so Dave headed for San Miguel Island in hopes of finding more of them. At San Miguel we tucked in around the backside of Cardwell Point to watch hundreds of California sea lions and a half-dozen elephant seals. All were resting/sleeping in the warm sand but close enough to the surf to make an escape if an emergency should arise. It was a phenomenal and awesome sight.
The journey home featured several long-beaked common dolphin mega pods, and one huge mega pod of their short-beaked cousins. The short-beaked common dolphins were very active and high-flying. Even the tiny calves were getting some air. Everywhere one looked there were several dolphins tail-walking and/or leaping high.
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