Two hours of watching a giant feeding frenzy!

Image: a close-up look at vertical lunge-feeding humpback whale in which the baleen growing from the roof of the mouth can be seen clearly. (The “head” is on the left side of the photo, and the “chin” with its ventral pleats, is on the right).

2026 02–13 SB Channel 

It was a beautiful day with awesome conditions except for a small bump from the west. Sightings were phenomenal today: 2000 common dolphins, 14 humpback whales, 200 California sea lions and 1 Minke whale. Captain Eddy and the crew made a loop that ended up about 9 miles offshore before heading back to the Harbor.

S of where the kelp farm used to be, we came across a “huge,” and very persistent, birdnado. We spent at least 2 hours at this fantastic hotspot as it slowly moved from one place to another along with an entourage of wildlife. All of the dolphins, the bulk of the whales, and all the sea lions were associated with this hotspot. 

Eddy mentioned that the birds that made up the birdnado, were primarily brown pelicans. Everything was feeding on a massive school of anchovies which periodically came to the surface and also spent time just beneath it. As often happens, the dolphins stayed with the hotspot as it moved, and the whales had to play catch-up.

We witnessed surface lunge-feeding humpback whales throughout the sighting. There was vertical feeding (see today’s photo for an example), as well as sideways lunging. 

Later we moved S a few miles and found an additional pair of whales. They had short dive times and long surface intervals…perfect for watching. (See note below). A single, sort of shy, Minke whale came by and some of us were lucky enough to catch a glimpse before it dove.

You never know what mother nature has in store.

Bob Perry

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NOTE: our talented deck hand and expert humpback whale identifier, Isabel, was able to capture a fluke photo from one of the members of the duo we watched at the end of our sightings. It is: CRC 19846. Although the whale has no name yet, it has been recorded 23 times since it was first identified in 2021. It has been observed as far north as Santa Barbara, and as far south as Cabo San Lucas.