Orca highlights from a successful weekend! Saturday we found CA199 by himself again, but he was the most active we’ve ever seen! Many tail slaps, a few breaches and even playing with kelp. On Sunday we persevered through challenging conditions and were rewarded with CA163 and two ladies he’s been hanging with: CA180 and CA175A. Monday’s private charter with @themalibuartist scored the same trio of whales but in very glassy conditions with sunshine.
Our Orca specific trips have found success in locating Killer Whales on 14 out of 16 trips since the beginning of “Season 2 Killer Whale Quest” in late August.
December is a big month for Killer Whale sightings and we are putting more trips online! In particular Dec 20-Dec 25th we will have a second boat (30’ Zodiac w/bathroom) available in Oxnard on the schedule.
Thanks to @californiakillerwhaleproject @orcawatcher2 for help with the IDs.
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
It’s December and we’re grateful to still be seeing amazing Humpback displays like this. Yesterday in the Channel Islands these whales took a short break from feeding to get jumpy!
Video by Capt Delaney @seataceans
#humpbackwhale #whale #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #oceans #visitcalifornia #channelislands #whalewatch
Epic sightings for us in the Channel Islands today! The all day Killer Whale Quest found the “lone male” CA199 along with some of the CA27 pod. In addition we also had a very rare sighting of a Sperm Whale, who we watched for two surface intervals over the course of an hour!
Our Orca specific trips have found success in locating Killer Whales on 8 of our 9 trips since late August.
Thanks to @californiakillerwhaleproject @orcawatcher2 for help with the IDs.
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
Sometimes the whales come people watching, and there’s nothing we can do about it!! The term “mugging” was coined to describe this whale behavior, which results in being “held up at whale point” and unable to move the boat as a result of being closely surrounded by friendly whales.
A circumstance like this comes about via a combination of getting lucky to stumble across whales that want to exhibit friendliness as well as a boat driver who is driving in a respectful way. Simply put… as a boat operator you can’t force this behavior to happen: the whales have to CHOOSE YOU! 😊
Video by Capt Delaney @seataceans
#whales #whalewatching #wildlifeonearth #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #channelislands #visitcalifornia #californiacoast #oceans
“Emma’s pod” for us today in picture perfect conditions!! This is the CA140s which consist of the matriarch, “Emma” and her 3 kids, including that big guy “Ben”. We last saw them in the Channel Islands on April 17. The Fall streak continues with 6 out of 6 Orca Quests connecting recently.
Video by Capt Ryan @lawofthelandnsea
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
What a privilege it was to see CA20 “Glacier” launch into the air multiple times on our most recent Killer Whale Quest!! Full breaches from male orcas seem to be uncommon in our area.
We’re starting our ‘24-‘25 Orca season off with wild success, with encounters happening on 5 out of 5 trips so far. Fall is clearly a hot time for sightings in the Channel Islands!
Video by Capt Ryan @lawofthelandnsea
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
Today’s 8 Hour Expedition out of Newport Beach scored big on the friendly Humpbacks! We actually saw every behavior from them today, but the “mugging” always takes the cake. Our boat was stopped, our engines were off: just drifting with the whales!
Sunday’s trip WAS sold out but we just added a second boat. It’s peak Humpback season with over a dozen seen today along with a few Fin Whales too and thousands of dolphins. Come out with us from Newport tomorrow!
Video by Capt Ryan @lawofthelandnsea
#humpbackwhale #whale #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #oceans #visitcalifornia #channelislands #whalewatch
SEVENTEEN Killer Whales today on our Quest!! This was the largest count of Transient Orcas we’ve had in one day so far. It started with a group of a dozen: CA200s, CA39As, and CA20+ associates all together. We watched them kill a sea lion, and leading up to the hunt the huge male CA20 “Glacier” made several breaches. The encounter had consistent boat friendly behavior with lots of tail slapping, breaches, spy hops and friendly passes. Some of the Orcas even harassed a pair of Blue Whales, causing the 80’ long giants to porpoise away at high speed.
Then on the way in we spotted the CA140Bs for a brief encounter 30 miles from where we left the pod of a dozen!
Video by Capt Ryan @lawofthelandnsea
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
We didn’t move for two hours today… held up at whale point aka “mugged” by these two incredibly friendly Humpbacks! The whales were just camping out around the boat investigating every piece of the Zodiac; it was awesome!! This action was aboard a private charter in the Channel Islands today. But Orange County is also having incredible humpback activity too! More on that later…
#humpbackwhale #whales #whalewatching #wildlifeonearth #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #channelislands #visitcalifornia #californiacoast #oceans
Orcas today! Just 15 minutes after departing Channel Islands Harbor on a private charter we found CA163 “Liner”, CA175A “Funky Fin” and CA180. (Thanks to @orcawatcher2 and @californiakillerwhaleproject for the IDs!)
These Killer Whales had recently, yes, KILLED something and were enjoying their meal as we pulled up. As fate would have it, our private charter today was not a whale watching trip but actually a BIRD watching trip. In order to “stay on mission” we watched the orcas for about 30 minutes and then had to leave them behind. 😲 Good news for our birders though, we saw two rare Blue Footed Boobies!
Hopefully we will be able to run an “Orca Quest” in the coming weeks if weather and schedules allow. Because they are definitely here!!
#killerwhales #orcas #whales #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #visitcalifornia #channelislands #discoverwildlife #oceans #dolphins
Off the charts Orange County Humpback action yesterday!! Our 8 hour private charter was treated to an end of day finale with some of the best Humpback moments they’d ever seen.
Our 4 and 8 hour trips departing from Newport are beginning this month to take advantage of the current and coming action. Tomorrow, Sunday Oct 6th we have a 4 hour trip leaving from Newport. Visit newportcoastaladventure.com to reserve.
Videos by @seataceans
#humpbackwhale #whales #whalewatching #wildlifeonearth #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #channelislands #visitcalifornia #californiacoast #oceans
It’s that time of year! When just by sitting still we are getting the best whale encounters you might ever have. These are a few moments from our fantastic 8 hour whale watches last weekend aboard the Zodiac in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Friendly Humpback Whales can be counted on to have this boat friendly behavior each Fall. It always happens when the boat is staying completely still. Sometimes it lasts minutes, but sometimes it can be hours of curiosity from friendly whales. BRING YOUR GO PRO 😊
#humpbackwhale #whales #whalewatching #wildlifeonearth #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #channelislands #visitcalifornia #californiacoast #oceans
