Whale Watch Story - September 2002
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YEAH!!  We saw Blue Whales!!

For starters, the Condor Express is a really nice boat.  Big huge Catamaran with jet propulsion and VERY, VERY FAST!  And despite having to get up at 4 in the morning and drive about 150 miles with a stop along the way..... I was on time! (I'm not very good at being on time).  It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day.  Sunny and warm (on shore!) and very clear.  There were a few clouds out near the islands but not much.

We headed out, passed some Sealions on a buoy (of course) and then picked up speed heading towards the Santa Barbara channel.  Not too far out we encountered some Common Dolphin.  We watched them for a little bit bow riding and frolicking.  One of the crew members also saw a glimpse of a Minke Whale and tried to find it again with no luck.  They are apparently very shy and will go under and leave.  I didn't see it so I can't add it to my 'list' :-(

We headed off since this was a relatively small pod of Dolphins.  Shortly there after we encountered a HUGE and VERY playful pod of Common Dolphin.  They were bow riding 20 to 30 Dolphins at a time.  I couldn't get them all in my camera frame.  We stayed with them for quite some time.  It was amazing to look around and see the size of the pod.  You could see them swim over and turn around just to bow ride.  There were even some cute little baby ones!  We also encountered quite a few Sealions swimming out in the ocean.

We took off again looking for Whales.  We got to the channel area and easily started spotting their spouts... Blue Whales!  They were in every direction it seemed.  We slowed down to nearly drifting and before we knew it they were very close.  The first few we spotted were hard to see because the sun was still low and at that exact time is when we got to the only cloudy area there was.  Soon after the sun was higher and clouds burned off and it was much easier to see.  I hope at least some of my pictures come out.

The Whales were absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  So big!  I was surprised that when they were surfacing for breaths they really didn't move much.  We were able to get wonderful viewing.  Once they went down we really didn't know where or when they would come up.  Sometimes they would come up fairly close to the boat while we were just drifting.  One even resurfaced within maybe 20 yards but it was on the other side and I missed it.  They seemed to be swimming in singles and pairs but there were MANY in the area.  We could see that light blue patch in the water that they are known for when they were going down for short periods.

We watched them for quite some time then headed off to try and see the painted caves and see what else we might find.  The tide was too high for this boat to get into the painted caves.  We did see a cute little group of mostly very young Sealions on the cliffs near the entrance.

We headed off again... hopefully to find some Humpback Whales!  We encountered MORE Common Dolphin and more swimming Sealions.  Then we went back through the Blue Whales again (actually I don't know if it was the same ones because I don't know of it was the same area).  We watched them for a while longer but it was getting time to head back.

As we were heading back we came across a small pod of Risso's Dolphin.  I think Risso's are just so neat looking!  They mostly pay us no mind but one of them did make a few passes near the boat.  Then a little Shark came swimming by at the surface of the water.  I have no idea what kind and it was maybe 2 or 3 feet long.  We were so surprised and it went by so quickly... no photos.  That was the first Shark I have seen on a trip.

We made a quick pass along the kelp bed looking for some Bottlenose before we went in.  Didn't see any.  As we were coming back in to dock we saw a Harbor Seal.  Little brat went under before I could get a picture.  Then on the roof of the building there were some Pelicans... well the Pelicans were every where but there were some that had yellow feathers on their heads.  I'm not sure if that means they are still very young?  I took a picture.

So we didn't see any Humpbacks but we did see plenty of Blues and it was a great trip (except I was freezing and on top of that I got a little bit motion sick).

Driving down the coast we did see some Bottlenose Dolphin from the shore.
So let's see... today I saw~

*Sealions ~ *Common Dolphin (MANY) ~ *almost a Minke Whale ~ *Blue Whales ~
*Risso's Dolphin ~ *A Shark! ~ *Harbor Seal ~ *Bottlenose Dolphin

What a good day!
Return to
Humpback Whales 06/03  1  2  3  4  5  6
~Blue Whales Trip 09/02~  Photos  1  2
Photos from the trip on the next two pages
Blue Whales frequent the Santa Barbara Channel in the summer and fall months and I have seen them on 3 out of 4 Whale Watching trips.  The other was a bit too early and we did see a beautiful cow/calf pair of Humpbacks.
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