Dolphins and a trio of humpback whales
Image: a trio of humpback whales in the Santa Barbara Channel
2026 11–08 SB Channel
Captain Dave, along with second captain Isabel, ran out towards the E end of beautiful Santa Cruz Island. Conditions were very good: clear skies, calm seas, and crystal-clear, Santa Barbara cobalt, water. Sightings: 150 common dolphins and 3 humpback whales.
We headed SE and stopped in the lanes for some great looks at a small pod of common dolphins. They came to the boat to surf and everybody was thrilled to watch them ride our bow, side and stern waves. Soon after leaving the dolphins, Isabel picked up a floating, disintegrating, Mylar balloon from the ocean surface.
4 miles S of Chinese Harbor we encountered a group of 3 adult whales. (See today’s photo for an example.) The trio was somewhat challenging to watch as they had long dive times, some approaching 14 minutes. The group appeared to be slowly moving W.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
NOTE:
In addition to helping find whales and keeping the ocean clear of balloons, Isabel also photographed and identified 2 of today’s 3 whales by their unique tail patterns. She is a user of the citizen-scientist program www.happywhale.com. (Not only can YOU use this program to look up all the information about today’s 2 whales, but you can enter your own tail photographs and start getting reports when your whale is seen in the future.. a nice clear phone picture works well). Here are the ID numbers from Isabel:
CRC-19950
CRC-17669
