Calm, glassy, sunny, clear and AMAZING whales and dolphins
2026 10–24 SB Channel
There were spectacular sea conditions and sightings in our neck of the channel today. Seas were glassy, there was no wind, and a very small swell from the W rolled gently down the channel. Most importantly, the water clarity was superb Santa Barbara cobalt blue. Sightings: 300 common dolphins, 4 humpback whales, 70 California sea lions, and 100 Pacific white-sided dolphins. Captain Dave and the crew ran W as far as Goleta Pier then turn S to the buoy. After running S to a spot close to beautiful Santa Cruz Island, we eventually headed home.
11:15a. We spent quite a bit of time with a spread out group of nearly 300 common dolphins. They rode our bow, side, and stern waves. The sighting was made even more spectacular because we could see the animals deep in the super clear water.
There was a bit of traffic in the lanes today, including 5 container cargo vessels, mostly moving northbound, and one southbound barge being pushed ahead by the towboat Jake Shearer.
1210p. Thanks to our friend Adam. We quickly found a large mother humpback whale with her calf. We watched numerous breathing cycles as the pair averaged 6 minute downtimes and were in slow travel mode to the W. A typical dive consisted of mom and calf, descending together, then shortly thereafter, the calf would come to the surface, and finally mother came back up.
During this sighting, there were at least 3 California sea lion mobs, running between 10 and 50 furry animals each.
1225p. We crossed paths with a spread-out group of a different species of dolphin, the Pacific white-sided dolphins. we can see them occasionally in the winter, but this is the first time we’ve seen them during a super warm water El Niño year. Once again, water clarity made the sighting fantastic. (See today's photograph above).
140p. On our trip home, our friend Kira spotted 2 adult humpback whales ahead of us in the water. They were both large. One of them had beautiful white pectoral fins they permitted us to watch the animal very clearly when it was underwater. (A photographer’s dream.)
Our multi-talented assistant captain and deck hand, Isabel, use her photographic skills along with the citizen science database happywhale.com to identify the one adult humpback that fluked up. Its identifying number is: CRC-16136. Please use Happywhale to find out all about this animal history as well as others that you may encounter. You, too, can enter your data if you get good humpback whale tail photographs.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
