Short beaked common dolphins riding in Madrone’s bow wake
With Mom safely on board, we pulled out of Santa Barbara Harbor to enjoy a few days at anchor. Santa Cruz Island lies about 20 miles directly south of town, and Madrone sailed slowly close-hauled in the dying morning southeasterly breeze.
Madrone’s crew spotting dolphins from the bow- the water was so clear and calm we could see them perfectly!
About halfway across the channel, we began to notice a few small white specks on the water. After a few minutes there were more, and they were coming towards the boat. Dolphins!
Note the dolphin on the far left checking us out…
We sailed through a pod of hundreds of short-beaked common dolphins feeding in the channel – they were everywhere around the boat. A few of them took a break from fishing to surf Madrone’s bow wake, and the crew was delighted to watch them swoop back and forth and up and down in front of the boat.
