It was really nice and calm so we motor-sailed up the front side of Santa Cruz Island hoping for calm weather so we could make San Miguel Island (57 or so miles directly into the prevailing wind and swells).
We saw lots of small pods of dolphins all around us and as usual, lots of ships. We had small areas of white caps that had me thinking, "Uh oh, is this a sign of wind headed our way?", but it was only currents.
We crossed the shipping lanes just before Santa Rosa Island in search of the blue whales that have been seen by the dozens in the area. I didn't think we would get lucky, but then all of the sudden I saw a big whale spout up in front of us several hundred yards out, then another, and another and ANOTHER! They were everywhere! We saw this one spyhopping - something neither of us had ever seen before!
IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!
We saw tons (literally tons) of backs!
We saw spouts all around the boat and several tails.
It seemed they would come up in pairs.
And sometimes groups - there are four in this picture!
It was the most amazing whale show either of us had ever seen. We guessed we saw over 100 whales! We were so excited we even had to call Cherryl! I sat on the bow and took pictures until I was cold and Jim was tired of avoiding them.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are several thousand words about whales...
Two tails in this one!
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