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DAILY SIGHTINGS
Below you'll find our daily sightings report! Keep up to date with the channel's wildlife by subscribing below


BASKING SHARK! | 1 Basking Shark, 100 Commons, 6 Bottlenose
Another wonderful day in the channel led us to some breathtaking and RARE wildlife! Seconds past the sandspit a group of coastal...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Feb 17, 20242 min read
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THE HUMPBACKS ARE HERE! | 7+ Humpbacks, 50+ offshore bottlenose
An overcast glassy morning soon turned into a bluebird kind of day with a slight ripple on the water. After a few weeks of some pretty...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Feb 14, 20241 min read
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Frisky Grays interact with Bottlenose! | 12+ Gray whales, 50+ Bottlenose
Beautiful conditions graced the channel today as skies were clear, waters were calm, and our passengers and crew were full of excitement!...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Jan 27, 20241 min read
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A stunning day at Sea | 3 gray whales, 100 commons
Conditions could not have been better as the seas were flat and zero wind graced the channel. An overcast sky lifted later in the day as...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Jan 16, 20241 min read
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Whales Galore! | 3 Humpback whales, 7 gray whales, 50 common dolphins
Whales were a-plenty as the skies were blue and seas were calm. Not until the shipping lanes did the wind and swell pick up a little bit,...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Jan 13, 20241 min read
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Gray whale season is among us! | 1 Gray Whale, 2,000 common dolphin
Calm seas with large swells greeted us in the channel. We went searching for yesterday's killer whales to no avail. Instead, we found...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Dec 27, 20231 min read
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KILLER WHALES | CA140B's with a new calf! -1 Common Dolphin, -2 Sea lions
Optimism was in the air as Christmas time is also orca time. Killer whales were seen in the channel on Christmas Eve, so we were ready to...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Dec 26, 20232 min read
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BREACHER ! | 1 Humpback, 1.000 common dolphin
Sunny skies and flat calm seas greeted us on a GORGEOUS December Day. These perfect sea conditions allowed us to use the speed of our...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Dec 16, 20231 min read
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Perfect December Day | 2 humpbacks, 1,000 Dolphins
On another sunny and flat calm day, we were delighted to find a small group of common dolphins right outside the harbor. Further offshore...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Dec 11, 20231 min read
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December Beauty | 6+ Humpbacks, 750 Dolphins
A beautiful December day led us to a whole heap of wildlife off the coast of Santa Barbara. Two juvenile humpbacks caught our attention...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Dec 5, 20231 min read
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Humpbacks galore! | 12+ Humpback whales, 1,500 common dolphins
(This report is for November 4th, 2023). Once again, gorgeous seas met us in the channel. We began the day with overcast skies and found...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Nov 5, 20231 min read
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Breach-athon! | 20+ Humpbacks, 2,000 dolphins
(This sighting report is from 11-4-2023) WHAT A DAY! Our boat full of passengers experinced a good one today! With whales all around us,...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Nov 4, 20231 min read
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ENDLESS LUNGEFEEDING! | 10+ Humpbacks, 1,000 dolphins
We didn't make it to our usual feeding grounds today, as our coastal waters were packed with wildlife! Whales, dolphins, sea lions, and...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 30, 20231 min read
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BREACHFEST! | 10+ Humpbacks, 1,500 common dolphins
A thick fog layer soon turned into a high stratus layer as perfect sea conditions blessed the channel. We went in search of our massive...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 19, 20231 min read
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Stunning day at sea after a foggy start! | 10+ Humpbacks, 3,000 dolphins
All of Santa Barbara was covered in a thick layer of fog, the arch-enemy of whale watching (it's not called whale listening, although in...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 17, 20231 min read
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Crew day leads to interesting behaviors! | 20+ Humpbacks, 2,000 dolphins
Another amazing day in the channel, but this one was all just for fun! Our crew took the Velella out on our day off because the weather...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 13, 20231 min read
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Humpback MUGGING! | 15+ Humpbacks, 2,000 dolphins
This report is from 10-7-2023 Breathtaking scenery was met with unfathomable amounts of wildlife! Everywhere we went we were greeted with...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 9, 20231 min read
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Black rakes and many more! | 15+ humpback whales and 1,500 common dolphins
Skies were sunny and a light breeze rolled through the channel. Similar to yesterday, a single major feeding spot sat in the middle of...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 4, 20231 min read
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Incredible gathering of humpbacks! | 20+ humpbacks, 5,000 dolphins, 1 minke whale
What a day at sea! Absolutely stunning sea conditions led us into the paths of an unfathomable amount of marine wildlife. Mid-channel was...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Oct 3, 20231 min read
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Whales, dolphins, and a trip to painted cave! | 2+ humpbacks, 3,000 dolphins
Today's adventure greeted us with flat calm sea conditions and overcast skies. We headed west with our boatful of adventurers and found...

Santa Barbara Whale Watch
Jun 18, 20231 min read
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