Aug. 26, 2023
We had an incredible 8 hour ACS-LA trip on the Condor Express on Saturday, 26 August 2023, exploring the Santa Barbara Channel! We watched 10+ humpback whales, including close looks at 7 whales whose flukes were matched (using the citizen science AI program at Happywhale.com), 2 minke whales,
6000+ long-beaked common dolphins, 300+ California sea lions, 1 large ocean sunfish (Mola mola), and a bald eagle harassed by gulls and a peregrine falcon! Large groups of dolphins and sea lions were feeding near and with the whales. First we spotted a large minke whale chasing fish, along with dolphins, sea lions, and birds. Fifteen minutes later, a smaller minke whale popped up closer to our boat. We spent over 2 hours with at least 7 foraging humpback whales! Two humpbacks joined and surfaced off our bow; the larger whale produced several loud trumpet blows – thought to be associated with an excited emotional state. A small humpback’s flukes had killer whale tooth rake scars; the right fluke tip was bitten off! Another whale had a long linear white scar from a previous entanglement. Two other humpbacks mugged us: they circled our boat and dove under it, spraying passenger’s faces with their blows! One of these whales, white-fluked Blanchette (CRC-15574), headed to a nearby small kelp paddy, lifted it with a pectoral flipper, and then fluked. We spotted a huge ocean sunfish (Mola mola) that stayed just under the surface. We left the cetaceans, and headed toward the western shores of Santa Cruz Island. We were startled by an adult bald eagle that flew right over us, pursued by a few gulls and then by a peregrine falcon; the bald eagle rolled upside down to display its talons to the smaller (and much faster) falcon! Then we checked out Painted Cave, the world’s longest sea cave. Such a terrific day, spent with 68 very happy passengers including multiple ACS-LA Board members, and special guest naturalists Lei Lani Stelle, David Pereksta, and Tamara Mason. Thanks so much to our wonderful Condor Express Whale Watching crew, headed by our very experienced Captain David Beezer!
Trip summary by naturalist and ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project Director Alisa Schulman-Janiger.