Great dolphin sightings and a couple of wonderful young humpback whales
Image: a young humpback whale is seen kelping in the Santa Barbara Channel.
2026 10–04 SB Channel
Captain Dave and the crew ran W to platform Holly and had some nice sightings. It was an unseasonably hot day with clear blue skies. When we were offshore there was a light breeze that helped cool things down. Total sightings for the day: 30 coastal bottlenose dolphins, 200 common dolphins, 3 humpback whales (we closely watched 2), and 1 Ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
As we left the mouth of the Harbor we followed an unusually large pod of coastal bottlenose dolphins. (The last time I checked, there were only about 450 members of this type of bottlenose dolphin between the Mexican border and San Francisco). There were a large number of calves in the group. A great way to start the trip!
We were only about 2 miles further W when we had a great encounter with 200 common dolphins. This small pod coincidentally also had quite a large number of calves.
Most of the large mammal action took place two miles S of platform Holly. Things got started with a single small juvenile humpback whale. It had short, 3 minute, dive times and showed great tail flukes.
1/2 mile later we observed a second, slightly larger, juvenile humpback. This one was a little more active and friendly. It made several passes down our sides and swam under the bow. (Perfect for whale selfies). On 2 separate occasions this whale launched into a full body breach close to our stern. It was a magnificent demonstration of aerial agility. (Our friend and colleague Mark was out and photographed the tails of each whale and, using the citizen science application called happywhale.com, he found out that he was the first to recorded them.. congratulations Mark!)
Nearby there was a sizable detached, floating giant kelp paddy. Just below it, in the clear blue water, we watched a medium-size Ocean sunfish (Mola mola). It didn’t take very long for the second humpback to take advantage of the kelp and it began an extensive session of kelping. (See today’s photo above for an example).
On our way home there was a third whale in the near distance, but lacking time, we didn’t slow down or approach. It is likely that many of the passengers did not get a chance to see it.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Special thanks to our deckhand Isabel for providing details for this report.
