Written Thursday 12 June
Talk about ending the US part of my travels on a high! Some of you may remember I went to Iceland in December to chase the northern lights and do some whale watching but wasn't hugely successful in either camps - saw just one humpback on a 4 hour -20 degrees Celsius boat trip and didn't see any tail flukes. How different it was this time...
There are approximately 100,000 humpbacks in the world and around 2,000 feed in the Santa Barbara area and nearby Channel Islands around this time of year, so there was a pretty high chance of seeing something good. Within about 15 minutes of leaving the harbour we saw our first pair of humpbacks - a mother and its calf. So so amazing to witness them gliding through the ocean together, both from a distance and up close to the boat. Managed to get a picture of a double tail fluke (by accident of course, it's hard to time these things perfectly) which I'm chuffed with :)
Saw three pairs on our first stop then another four on our second stop which were engaging in a spot of cooperative feeding. Since there was lots of surface action we got to see their top halves as well as more tail flukes, and hear some big vocalisations. One was just metres away from the boat at one point which was incredible - really got a feel for just how massive they are. They were so close at times that we got whiffs of whale breath which was simultaneously cool and gross - researchers call it being kissed by a whale but it reeked of rotten eggs! During the cooperative feeding stop particularly the sea was teeming with life as marine animals took advantage of the humpbacks rounding up schools of fish, meaning we saw hundreds of common dolphins in addition to sea lions and sea birds.
No blue whale sightings unfortunately but that just means I'll have to make another stop on my way home...shame! Spent the rest of the afternoon walking up and down the main street trying to find an internet cafe (to no avail) and napping on the beach. Glad I didn't book to stay here for 3 or 4 days as planned - it's a pretty place, typical beach side town with whitewashed houses and al fresco eateries, but there's not much going on. Long bus journey to LA, met up with my faves for last goodbyes (sob), took a hot shower in a clean cubicle for the first time in a while and bedded down in a double. Luxury!
