Killer Whale Quest is BACK for Season 4!

Yes, this Fall is now the start of our fourth season (defined as late August through early June) for Killer Whale trips in California's Channel Islands.

I wish I had better news to date, but it's been a rough start I have to be honest. And I don't mean that there aren't Killer Whales around. Because THERE ARE! But the wind has been relentless in cancelling our trips.

Since August 28th until today, October 7th, we have put 16 Killer Whale Quests online. 13 out of 16 we had to cancel due to weather... truly astounding and a bit demoralizing for our crew! September is known to be a windy month, but this one really blew our socks off. Thankfully with the FALL season here, our weather pattern will change to days with offshore wind (santa anas) that flatten the ocean into lake like conditions. The second half of October onward I know will bring us a much higher hit rate.

Here's proof of our recent success, a photo from crew member Mark G of some of the CA122B pod members we encountered on Sunday 10/4!

And on September 20th, our first Quest of the season encounterd the CA140B family nice and close to the island shoreline! Photo by Capt. Delaney

Last year our September was truly spectacular, with sightings of big groups of orcas and a calmer ocean. This year happened a little differently, and it might be that El Nino has got the "clock" set back a little bit with ocean conditions. As the days get shorter the winds relax and the orcas will continue to fill into the Channel Islands area in greater numbers increasing our hit rate!