Spectacular day with great dolphins and a humpback mugging.
Image: a vintage photograph of our then deckhand Dave shooting video of a playful humpback whale that is making a friendly approach to the Condor Express completely upside down.
2026 10–14 SB Channel
Conditions were fantastic today, with bright sunny skies, a light breeze, and no swell. Additionally, we had wonderful Santa Barbara cobalt blue crystal water clarity when we were offshore with the dolphins and whales. Sightings: 40 offshore bottlenose dolphins, 500 common dolphins, and 2 humpback whales.
We crossed paths with a very small pod of 40 offshore bottlenose dolphins when we were just 4 miles S of the harbor. They were friendly and had quite a few calves in the group… which it seems like a regular occurrence. We encountered a small pod of about 60 common dolphins, just 2 miles S.
Further S, on the edge of the lanes, a second pod of common dolphins was a bit larger, with 400 or so individuals. This was an active pod and they did quite a bit of leaping and high-flying. From this vantage point we could see spouts a mile or so inside the lanes.
The spouts belonged to 2, large adult humpback whales. They were circling around, apparently searching for food, with long, 12 minute dives. After 15 or 20 minutes of watching these long dives, a behavior change was observed. The pair made a bee-line for the Condor Express and began mugging us for at least a half an hour. The crystal clear water turned an amazing sighting into a spectacular encounter. The whales came close along both sides of the boat. They moved on their sides, and they also swam upside down. (See today’s photo for an example). As we were running out of time, Captain Dave slowly backed us away. Then one of the whales discovered a floating paddy of giant kelp and took up some fun times in the kelp spa.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
