The photos of whales are taken in the Santa Barbara Channel. Warm water from Mexico and the colder water from the Pacific Northwest combine right in "our" backyard to cause upwelling and it results in abundant food sources for the cetaceans in the channel (among them are many varieties of dolphin, blues, migrating grays, humpbacks-my favorite, minkes and fins and now and then orca, many more come, but this is just to give you a sample of the variety in the channel).
Photos are hard to capture what watchers actually experience, these photos don't capture the whoosh and smell of an exhale, the synchronized rhythms of whales in a row (miles apart), the trumpeting sound of a humpback scratching his back on the boat. You have to actually be there for those pictures. It is hard to capture the grandeur. The thrill and fear mixed together when a whale is acting "unpredictable", the size of a huge mass of back swimming directly towards the boat and diving down within inches. It is truly awesome.
Common dolphins are spotted year round in the channel, frequently they are swimming in mega pods of over a thousand at a time, many times with infants (around a foot long) keeping up with the adults. They are playful and social animals and also a very dear favorite.
The island fox is from Santa Cruz Island (many of the Channel Islands have their own unique sub species, not all of the Channel Islands have a fox population). They are endemic animals found nowhere else on the planet and in their natural habitat are the top of the food chain. This is why we see them during the day on the islands. They have come back from the brink of extinction (due to predation from the golden eagle and loss of habitat).
I love your photos Kat. I've learned a lot from just your few posts! Hope I can go on one of your tours some day!
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