12 grays, 1 fin whale and 2 blue sharks
- Bob Perry
- Feb 22
- 1 min read
2026 02–22 SB Channel
Flat calm seas and sunny skies provided a wonderful backdrop for both trips that left the docks today, one at 9 AM and the other at 12 noon. Sightings were phenomenal, and the numbers are only part of the story: 12 gray whales, 1 fin whale and 2 blue sharks. The hot zone today was between 3 and 5 miles offshore, and stretched from the harbor entrance W to Goleta Bay.
All of the action was 5 miles S of Goleta Bay on the morning excursion. We first encountered a tight group of 6 adult gray whales that were busy rolling around, swimming sideways, and generally socializing. (See today’s photo for an example). All the whales observed today were moving W. (Which is really Nbd for a whale). A lot of time was spent with this amazing group. There were also 2 small blue sharks that were seen swimming through the area. They spent a lot of time up on the surface.
A few hundred yards away we spent a while with a very large fin whale. Seeing one so close to the shoreline was special.
In the afternoon, things got kicked off when we followed three gray whales not far out from the Harbor entrance. We followed them W and ended up encountering a second trio off Goleta Bay. We had very good looks at all of these cetaceans.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
