Choppy, but epic sightings of humpbacks and fin whales and dolphins.

Image: a fin whale is seen busting through choppy seas.

2026 08–21 SB Channel

All the action today was located in a mile-wide area that was 7 miles S of the UCSB campus. Although skies were clear, and the wind did not come up until later, we were heading right into some heavy, oncoming chop which made the ride to the hotspot “interesting”. Sightings today included: 40 California sea lions, 2 fin whales, 5 humpback whales, and 3000 common dolphins. Water clarity was still superb.

Observations took place in 2 spots that were about a mile apart . The early spot included a mob of at least 40 sea lions that were porpoising towards a some food. There were also several pods of scattered common dolphins.  The first humpback whale we spotted was an adult that was quickly joined by smaller whales. One of them was a juvenile (our friend Susanne has identified 2 of these animals, including the juvenile, see notes at end of report). On a couple of occasions we got very close looks at these humpback whales as they came to the surface to catch to take a breath and happened to be near the Condor Express by luck alone. A medium-large adult fin whale also swam by our bow when it was heading to a feeding spot. (See today’s photograph for an example).

Later in the trip, we worked the second spot. The common dolphins here were in a larger pod, and it was a nursery pod. (It always amazes me that these little tiny dolphins can swim as soon as they are born and will do so their entire life, nonstop). By coincidence, the first humpback we saw here was the same juvenile reported (identified ) at the earlier location. We watched a couple more humpbacks. A very large, wide, fin whale was active in this second area, and made a few close passes.

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

marinebiophotography.com

NOTE

Here are some notes about 2 of the humpback whales that showed their tails, and were photographed by Susanne, who was able to look them up using happywhale.com. I will give each of them there designated ID number so you can look them up yourself and track their progress in the future.

CRC-23538

This is a juvenile whale that has only been recorded 3 times before today… twice in Santa Barbara and once off Newport Beach. It was first recorded in August of last year, and it’s most recent record, before today, was the Newport Beach sighting which happened in June of this year.

CRC-15627

This adult whale has been recorded 109 times!!  it has traveled from San Francisco in the north, to Rivas, Nicaragua in the south. Most of it’s records come from Monterey Bay, and it has never, in 14 years, been recorded in the Santa Barbara Channel until Susanne did it today. It was first sighted in 2012, and it’s most recent sighting, before today, was in June of this year.