Gorgeous conditions, beautiful mother humpbacks with their calves, and heaps of dolphins.
- Bob Perry
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Image: a sideways surface lunge-feeding humpback whale. The pink you see is the soft palette, roof of the mouth. You can see fuzzy baleen surrounding it. Water is exiting the oral cavity as the lower jaw closes and the anchovies are strained out and swallowed.
2026 05–31 SB Channel
Similar to yesterday, all of the action was within a few miles of the coast. If you had a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, and knew where to look, you could’ve seen the action from the bluffs. The skies were sunny and it was warm. There was no wind. Sightings for the day included: 2000 common dolphins, 4 humpback whales, and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
We were fortunate to see 2 pairs of humpback whales which were moms with calves. We located the first pair just 4 miles SW of the Harbor. Mom did a bit of surface lunge feeding on the anchovy schools. (See today’s photo for an example).
The area was flushed with anchovies, and there were at least 200 common dolphins feeding here too. Lots of small, BS-2 birdnados popped up here and there. Dolphins were spread out everywhere we went today.
We continued W until we were off of the Goleta pier. The second pair of humpback whales was busy feeding here. The calf did quite a bit of rolling around and pec slapping. The pair made one nice close approach to the Condor Express.
The last sighting of the trip was a really nice look at 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola). Purple sailor jellies (Velella velella) have been absent along the coast the last couple of days.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
