California Whale Watching

Winds and whales

Bob Perry — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 00:17:15 +0000

A wild day in the Channel as Captain Eric defied the on-coming seas and had some really nice whales. It was sunny with moderate seas and a bit of wind later in the trip. Species counts included over 2,000 long-beaked common dolphins and one extremely friendly and cooperative humpback whale. Most of the dolphins (aka, little whales) were in a ...

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A windy day with a good variety of mammals

Bob Perry — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 04:37:20 +0000

The early morning fog gave way to sunny skies as the wind picked up a bit today. It was the kind of moderate breeze that adds a sparkle to the water and makes the marine life seem more animated than usual. There was a good variety of mammals and total sightings for the excursion included 600 California sea lions, 350 ...

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Nice humpback whales and more

Bob Perry — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 03:53:24 +0000

The Condor Express was just south of The Lanes when the first marine mammals were sighted. It was 2 humpback whales with short bottom times and plenty of nice tail flukes. Great looks were had before Captain Dave proceeded on a southwesterly course. Near the east end of Santa Rosa Island and a few miles north a couple of large ...

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Sea lions in the kelp

Bob Perry — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 00:28:20 +0000

The heat wave began to break today and this created perfection in the Santa Barbara Channel. It was mill pond glassy smooth, except where the dolphins and/or sea lions got the surface roiled up. It was “short sleeve weather” with not much wave action until we were on the far western leg of our excursion. Sightings today were excellent. For ...

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Sea lion mega-pods stole the show.

Bob Perry — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 00:11:07 +0000

Sea lion mega-mobs stole the show. It was another heat wave-buster chock full o’ life including at least 2,000 California sea lions, 1,000 long-beaked common dolphins, 500 short-beaked common dolphins, and one very nice humpback whale. The air temperature was in the high 90’s, water temp near 68, and it was mill pond flat glass except for a few areas ...

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Hot day and hot wildlife

Bob Perry — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:55:55 +0000

It was a hot day as sunny skies, calm seas and a late-season heat wave swooped into the Santa Barbara Channel. Out on the Channel was “the place to be” to escape the hot air and the sightings were spectacular. Species closely watched included 2 humpback whales, 1 Minke whale, 1,000 long-beaked common dolphins and at least 1,000 California sea ...

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Five different species of marine mammals

Bob Perry — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 23:14:11 +0000

Five different species of marine mammals were seen during an epic Fall excursion on the Condor Express in the Santa Barbara Channel today. Captain Dave and his crew report seeing 8 inshore bottlenose dolphins, 2,000 long-beaked common dolphins, at least 2,000 California sea lions, 1 humpback whale and 1 Minke whales. It was a gorgeous, glassy, flat and sunny day. ...

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Mobs of sea lions and much more

Bob Perry — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 22:42:50 +0000

It was a gorgeous, flat, calm sunny day for our cruise ship whale watchers. And, boy, did we every have some nice wildlife today on top of the great oceanography. Captain Dave reports 300 short-beaked common dolphins, 3 humpback whales (see notes below), 700 long-beaked common dolphins and at least 1,500 California sea lions arranged in mega-mobs. The first dolphins did ...

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A blue streak under the surface.

Bob Perry — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 02:43:27 +0000

Captain Dave set a course for the southwestern Santa Barbara Channel under sunny skies and hardly any wind. The ocean surface, however, was a little bumpy due to strong winds in the far western Channel region. It was a solid whale watching day with over 2,000 long-beaked common dolphins, 3 humpback whales and a nice encounter with a blue streak ...

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Common dolphins and tons of other species

Bob Perry — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:40:51 +0000

Hooray! No fog. In fact the Santa Barbara Channel was under the remnants of a fizzled-out tropical Pacific storm “Paine.” It was fairly calm but a little bit humid. Sightings for today included 5 humpback whales, 1,800 long-beaked common dolphins and at least 600 or so California sea lions. This was a private whale watch for cruise ship people that ...

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