A summerlike day with lots of gray whales, and more!
- Bob Perry
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
2026 03–17 SB Channel
Hooray! No fog today. In fact it was quite warm the sunny skies and the lack of wind made the ocean surface a mirror glass… absolutely ideal conditions for finding and watching wildlife. Captain Eddy and the crew ran a 9A and a 12 N excursion, each heading W, up the coast, to a greater or lesser extent. Water clarity remains an excellent, “Santa Barbara Cobalt” color and crystal clear. Sightings: 1 humpback whale, 1 Minke whale, 9 gray whales, and 1000 common dolphins.
The morning excursion made a huge loop that went as far W as Sands Beach, west of Holly. It was near Holly that we found our 1 and only humpback whale. It appeared to be an adult moving W, in travel mode. While we watched, a single Minke whale came through and we watched it throughout 3 of its surface intervals before moving towards the shore and heading back towards the harbor. Not far off Hope Ranch a single adult gray whale headed our direction. It was moving W, we were moving E. Nevertheless we had a couple of great looks before continuing back to Santa Barbara Harbor. (See today’s photo for an example).
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The afternoon excursion located a megapod of dolphins S of Hope Ranch. We spent about 45 minutes with them as they were very playful and that crystal clear water made for an immaculate sighting. A few miles to the S multiple spouts led us to a trio of gray whales. Like most of their species, they, too, we’re moving W… migrating towards the Bering Sea. As we looked out a little bit further S, there was another group of five gray whales. Today was a wonderful reminder that it is still “gray whale season.”
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
