Blue sharks, thousands of dolphins and a great visit with a young humpback whale.
- Bob Perry
- 2d
- 2 min read
2026 02–12 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew ran slightly SW until we reached the very edge of the Sbd lane near the buoy. The ocean surface had a light bump when we were near the beach but smoothed out as we got into deeper water. Skies were sunny and clear all day. Total sightings for the trip included 2500 common dolphins, 4 blue sharks, and 1 humpback whale.
In the location described above, we were greeted by a megapod of 1000 common dolphins that were moving E. We had great looks and stayed with them for a while until a nearby spout was discovered. This turned out to be a single, juvenile, humpback whale. The little guy was milling around and occasionally would make a three minute dive.
Before, during, and after that whale, we spotted 4 individual blue sharks. (See today’s photo above for an example). None of the sharks were particularly large. Regular readers of my report will notice that we have been seeing blue sharks in uncharacteristically large numbers this season. Most of the sharks were fairly cooperative as we did a slow drive-by.
Captain Dave headed NE, and when we were close to platform habitat, a larger megapod of common dolphins, with at least 1500 individuals, came through the area.
Closer to shore, the last major event of the trip took place when Dave pulled up close to the famous/infamous platform A (Alpha). Dave talked about the oil and gas drilling rigs and particularly how platform A had the first major large blowout and subsequent oil spill that made a real mess on the ocean waters and covered the entire Santa Barbara coast with a thick oil deposit. This prompted Rachel Carson to write her famous environmental classic, Silent Spring.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
