Literally tons of humpbacks up past UCSB.
- Bob Perry
- 20 hours ago
- 1 min read
2026 03–01 SB Channel
We had great humpback whale sightings on both the 9 AM and the 12 noon trips today. There was a light wind on the water under the hazy sun. A moderate bump from overnight winds came to us from the west made the ride interesting. Totals for the day: 9 humpback whales, 5 blue sharks, and 40 common dolphins. Most of the action today was just S of platform Holly (the oil rig you see SW of the UCSB campus).
On the morning adventure, Captain Dave and the crew negotiated the aforementioned bump and worked W where we encountered 4 individual whales. 3 were young/smaller whales, and 1 was a large adult. Another adult was seen about a mile away. This fifth whale had long surface times and showed its tail flukes regularly.
Throughout the morning we passed by at least five young blue sharks.
———-
Dave and the crew headed back to the same area on the afternoon trip. On the way, when we were about 2 miles off of Hendrys Beach, we circled around with a small group of common dolphins. They played with the boat and rode our wake before we continued to that hot area up by Holly.
Among the 4 humpbacks, 2 adults and 2 sub-adults. 1 was a very large female.
Curiously there were no sharks seen on the afternoon trip.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
