Mild Santa Ana conditions with some great whale activity and nice dolphins.
Image: whale fans on the Condor Express enjoy good looks at a breaching humpback whale.
2026 10–17 SB Channel
It was a hot sunny day with mild Santa Ana conditions. Seas were calm, and there was a light breeze from the SE. Captain Dave and crew headed S of Hope Ranch where they found the following: 3 humpback whales, and 400 common dolphins.
We were 5 miles out when we observed a mother humpback with her calf. (Our talented deckhand Isabel was able to look up and identify this whale… see notes at the end of this report). The cow calf pear turned out to be difficult subjects to watch. They were averaging 15 minutes on their dive times with short surface inter laws. Out of nowhere, the mom breached once (see today’s photograph for an example), then went back to her lengthy, breathing cycles. After a while, the pair showed some interest in the Condor Express. In fact, we had a 15 minute legitimate mugging.
Close by there was a third whale, another adult. It also had a long day of times averaging between 15 and 18 minutes. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time with it given the circumstances.
Dave had it offshore to find some dolphins, which he did successfully. We encountered a part of about 400 common dolphins and we watched them for quite a while as they rode our bow, side, and stern waves. Towards the end of the dolphin experience, there were some nonstop humpback, reaching in the distance, so Dave made a move back to the east. Upon arriving at the scene, you guessed it, the whale stopped reaching and went to 15 minute dive times.
Our deckhand Isabel was also busy in another important way. She retrieved three deflated, floating, Mylar balloons from the ocean surface as well as one beach ball.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Notes
Here are 2 whales that were identified today. You can look them up on happywhale.com and find out all about them.
CRC–15795 (Isabel)
CRC-20731 (our whale tail expert/friend, Susanne)
