After a very messy weekend of days shortened by wind, we enjoyed a full day amidst the extraordinary beauty of the Santa Barbara Channel with a lot of whales.

And, Counters did an extraordinary job of finding and tracking whales and figuring out the numbers of whales. It was a, shall we say ... , different kind of day with multiple groups of Cow/calf pairs, which are often carefree, goofy, and relaxed. We think April 27 is a training day for Killer whale avoidance: very low profile.

It didn’t start out that way, but halfway through the first sighting, we noticed the change: they all disappeared, except the Bottlenose dolphins. Yes, our first sighting included five Bottlenose dolphins that bonded with the whales and, perhaps, instructed them on the nature of their Orca cousins. There were four pairs of Gray-whale mothers and calves playing in a kelp pool west of Campus Point, two miles east of us. After almost half an hour they began to separate and started west. Just outside the four pairs, we found another pair, but we were surprised to realize these were Humpback whales.

Off they went towards us: Gray whales, Humpback whales, and Bottlenose dolphins. Everything seemed OK until pairs dropped out of the parade. We began to expect quite a gathering west of us in the surf at Sands. No, “the Killer Whale Avoidance Class” had begun.

We continued to find whales, and almost all of them spent most of the time under water. The exception that certainly proved the rule was a mother and calf that took turns nodding to the Counters.

Thank you, we appreciate it!

Gray whales northbound (all) 21 | Calves 10 — 2015 Count 1122 | 100

Hours 8:00