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The whale with half a tail | 1+ blue whales, 3,000 common dolphins

A slight bump on the water and winds in the low teens greeted us in the channel, but didn’t slow us down!


Our first sighting of the day was an absolutely massive pod of common dolphins. Stretching for miles to the east, we estimate at least 3,000 dolphins in our general vacinity. We spent time with lots of calves as they raced besides our boat, and leaped out of the water with great charisma.


We continued East to find a blue whale hotspot. While there were at least 6 whales in the general area, we decided to spend time with one special and hardy whale. Upon arriving on scene we spotted a whale we thought we knew very well. “Uno,” is a whale missing its entire right fluke. Our crew first saw this whale when working in the channel in 2020 and gave the whale its famous name. Since then, Uno has been sighted across Southern California and is known for putting up its tail Flukes super high on a dive. This whale however was not Uno, as it was missing its entire LEFT fluke. These injuries are a likely cause of entanglement in fishing gear. The line wraps around the fluke so tightly it amputates the whales tail. A sad reality of the devastation unsustainable fishing has on our oceans, as boat nets travel the seas waiting for their next victim. Not to worry though, this whale at least survived its ordeal and looks to be very healthy. We think we’ll name him Dos!


Until Next Time,


The SBWW Crew



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