Channel Islands National Park and wildlife cruise

In our ongoing mission to visit every national park, we did one of the ones we can’t drive into — Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of California.

We could drive to the visitor center in Ventura, California, though:

After that we stopped for lunch at a nearby place in the marina, Boatyard Pub:

Fish and chips:

Burger and fries (most excellent fries):

Good vibes:

Then we headed to Oxnard for an afternoon boat cruise into the park. Here’s an info sign:

The marina:

Our tour boat was the Vanguard:

Boarding the Vanguard:

Time to go:

Departing:

We were fortunate to see several whales; here’s a blowhole sign of one:

Whale tail:

Low-flying pelicans:

One of several oil rigs:

We also encountered a few pods of dolphins:

A couple of animated GIFs of the dolphins:

More dolphin pics:

Our guide:

Another whale encounter:

Whale GIF:

Pelicans:

The coastguard is still requiring masks, even in an outdoor situation like this, for some reason. So here’s a masked selfie:

East Anacapa Island:

Arch:

There were hundreds or thousands of birds in the air and on the island: