A very active group of humpbacks and dolphins moves up the coast so we end up seeing them twice. Such a deal!

Image: a powerful vertical lunge by a feeding humpback whale exposes its baleen and, in the water being expelled from the corners of its mouth, a few lucky individual anchovies are escaping.

2026 06–19 SB Channel

Conditions were similar to yesterday: overcast, with a light breeze. There was no swell. Captain Eddy headed to the SW. The total sightings for the trip: 10 humpback whales (a group of 5, of which we closely watched 3, and we encountered them twice), 2000 common dolphins and 20 California sea lions.

We were 2 miles off Ledbetter when we encountered a hotspot that included several birdnados. 1500 dolphins were feeding with marine birds and a handful of sea lions. This spot also included 5 humpback whales. One of them was very actively feeding on the surface, including vertical lunges (see today’s photo for an example), and some sideways lunges. A second whale was preoccupied with throwing its tail and doing some pectoral fin-slapping. The group made a couple of random  close passes and everyone had spectacular looks. The movable feast was trending up the coast to the W.

(Our friend and whale tail identification expert, Susanne, was on board and identified 2 of the humpback whales. See note below.)

Captain Eddy continued SW, and got as far as the edge of the lanes. He then diverted back towards the coast. We were several miles off of Goleta when we ran into 5 humpback whales, and another 500 dolphins. Eddy believes these were the same exact whales we watched at the beginning of the trip. During this second sighting, we did a slow drive-through and didn’t stop in order to stay on schedule. 

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

naturalphotographics.com

NOTE: 

Here’s the information from Susanne regarding 2 of our whales. She uses her excellent photographic skills and research using the website happywhale.com   You can use the whale ID numbers and look up the information yourself, as well as other whales that you may be interested in.

CRC-22597

Has been recorded 12 times, 10 of them in the Santa Barbara channel. It was first recorded in June 2024, and its last sighting, prior to today, was June 11 of this year.  It has travelled from Morro Bay in the north, where it was first recorded, to Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico.

HW-MN 050-4073

Has only been recorded 8 times, 4 in the Santa Barbara channel, and 4 near Los Angeles Harbor. It is a juvenile, so stay tuned to happywhale for more information.