Wonderful sea conditions, thousands of dolphins and (again) much humpback excitement.
- Bob Perry
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
2025 06–23 SB Channel
Conditions in the Channel were much better today. Skies were blue and sunny. Winds were light and variable. Captain Eddy and the crew made a “great circle” from Santa Barbara Harbor out towards the Buoy and then back around north towards More Mesa, and finally home eastbound along the beach. Sightings today were phenomenal: 3000 common dolphins, 9+ Humpback whales, 1 huge Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and 50 California sea lions.
We were just a few miles south of The Harbor when we encountered a small group of dolphins moving east. We took a couple of quick glances and then continued moving on. Near the southern limit of our great circle we were north east of the Buoy. Here we encountered our first megapod of 1000+ dolphins. They were quite spread out, taking turns riding our bow, side and stern waves.
Captain Eddy spotted breaching in the distance. Upon arrival we found an area with a total of 6 whales and a lot more dolphins. There were even a few birdnados indicating everything was feeding. The breacher was part of a pair of adults and its behavior had evolved into some good tail-throwing and pec slapping. They came up by chance close to the boat on a few occasions for extra good looks.
Moving north, we found a mother humpback with her calf. Per usual, the calf was very active including rolling around, slapping its pecs and throwing its tail EXTREMELY close to the boat. (See today’s photo for an example).
Further along, we came upon one of the largest ocean sunfish (Mola mola) that we have seen in a while. It was about 6ft in diameter and very cooperative. We watched it resting on the surface…everybody got great looks.
Our last major sighting was a single whale, another 500 dolphins and 50 very curious sea lions in the mix.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
