Six nice humpback whale sightings, and much more.
- Bob Perry
- May 1
- 2 min read
Updated: May 2
2026 05–01 SB Channel
There was a light breeze, and a moderately small swell, as we traversed the Channel under a bright and sunny sky. Both the 9 A and the 12 N adventures ended up E of the buoy and on the edge of the lanes. We watched 200 common dolphins, six humpback whales, and 1 ocean sunfish (Mola mola), today.
About 15 minutes into the trip we encountered a single ocean sunfish (Mola mola), on the surface eating purple sailor jellies (Velella velella). This is a special Nat Geo kind of thing that happens only in the late spring.
SE of the Mola, on our way to the Summerland rigs, we encountered about 200 dolphins scattered over at least a mile of water. They were playful, and as captain Dave ran a couple of high-speed circles, they could not resist surfing our stern waves.
At this point, we found ourselves on the edge of the lanes where we found 3 adult whales. Like all the whales we saw today, these whales had long, 10 minute, downtimes. They appeared to be feeding sub-surface and traveling quite a long distance while submerged. They were all trending to the W. They were very good about kicking up their tails. (see whale tail photo above as an example).
Captain Dave took us directly to the same spot to start off the 12 N excursion. Again we saw 3 whales, 1 of them was from the morning trip. They were all separated from each another by about 100 yards and were following the same sub-surface feeding pattern as the morning animals.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
NOTE: these are the happywhale.com ID numbers for today’s animals that were able to be identified. Our friend, and whale tail aficionado, Susanne was on board today and has provided this information.
Morning Trip
CRC-11252, a male, recorded 30 times.
First recorded September 1998 in California.
Has been found from San Francisco California Puerto Escondido Mexico.
The last time it was observed was in Baja California Sur last November.
CRC- 21859 (also seen on our afternoon trip) recorded 22 times
First recorded September 2023 in California.
Has been found from Monterey Bay California to San Clemente.
Who was last seen in November of last year in California.
Afternoon Trip
CRC-21859 (see morning trip for Info) recorded 23 times
CRC-22603 - recorded nine times.
First recorded July 2024 in California.
Has been recorded from the Santa Barbara Channel to San Clemente California.
Last recorded in December of last year in California.
