Thousands of dolphins and one of the four humpback whales was very energetic for two hours.
- Bob Perry
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
2026 06–03 SB Channel
The crew reported similar sea conditions to yesterday, but with less swell. In other words, it was not sunny but otherwise ideal for watching wildlife. Captain Eddy ran towards the SE again today, but didn’t need to go as far. Total sightings included: 3000 common dolphins, 3 humpback whales, and 100 California sea lions.
S of the Carpinteria oil platforms we found our first dolphins. It was a megapod of about 1000 individuals. They were in slow travel mode, so we enjoyed their company for quite a while, as they wrote our bow and surfed our wake waves. As it was yesterday, Dolphins were found all day long and in various sized pods. Also, there were a large number of California sea lions with this first group of dolphins.
We traveled E and soon found multiple spouts in the distance, plus more dolphins. It was a short-lived trio of humpback whales. Soon after arriving on the scene, one whale moved away to the S, the 2 remaining whales, N. There was a bit of breaching by 1 of the N group whales. We stayed with this one for over two hours as it remained very active. We witnessed lots of tail throws, upside down swimming, waving pec fins in the air, head standing (See today’s photo for an example), and approximately 15 breaches. The whale also became very friendly, passed directly under the boat, and “kissed” the passengers on the bow with its spout spray. Late in our encounter, one of the earlier whales came by and joined the very active one.
You never know what mother nature has in store.
Bob Perry
