A very productive day along the coast from UCSB down to the Mesa.

Image: common dolphins are shown feeding on a surface aggregation of northern anchovies in the Santa Barbara Channel.

2026 08–23 SB Channel

We made some nice observations about 3 miles S of the Mesa as we moved very slowly into the wind chop to arrive at our ultimate destination which was about 7 miles S of UCSB. Other than the chop, it was a nice day with sunny skies and little wind. Totals: 4000 common dolphins, 4 Minke whales, 8 humpback whales (we closely watched 4), 1 fin whale and 20 California sea lions.

The region off of the Mesa contained at least 2000 common dolphins that were mostly feeding sub-surface. This attracted the attention of 4 Minke whales, which, being preoccupied with feeding, made a couple of close passes in advertently next to the Condor Express. Whale fans were ecstatic. There were a few birdnados during which time the dolphins did a bit of surface feeding (See today’s photo for an example). Captain Eddy took us slowly W towards the next hotspot and saw at least four additional large pods of common dolphins along the way.

We closely watched 4 humpback whales which, like the Minke whales earlier, popped up next to the boat as they were preoccupied with feeding. They were good about kicking up their flukes (our multitalented deckhand Isabel was able to photograph and identify 1 very large, old female, plus another, younger, whale. See ID information at the end of this report). We saw an additional 4 humpbacks in the near distance but we ran out of time to visit them. There were at least 20 California sea lions in the area as well.

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

marinebiophotography.com

NOTE

Here are the designated ID codes from Isabel, and a little bit of background information about each one that I took from happywhale.com

CRC-23545

This young whale has been observed and recorded from the Santa Barbara Channel to San Diego. There are 50 records of this whale, the first was from August, 2025. The most recent record before today was from June 15 of this year. Most observations have been made in the LA and Newport Beach area.

CRC-10203

This mature female has been recorded 26 times ranging from San Francisco to Oceanside California. 14 of those are from the Santa Barbara Channel. It was first identified on October 1, 1998 by the Cascadia Research Collective during their famous SPLASH program. The last record of this whale, prior to today, was from October 15, 2024 at Dana Point. I personally think it is just a matter of luck that it was not recorded by any of the whale watching boats in Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, or further S into Central America.

Thanks again Isabel!