2020 02-19 SB Coast It was another glassy, sunny day with beautiful crystal clear water along the coast today. Captain Colton and the crew report watching 2 gray whales and 3 bottlenose dolphins during a single, 12-noon departure, trip.Both whales were southbound, smaller whales. The were found about 3 miles south of the harbor. They were particularly nice whales to … Read More

2020 02-28 SB Coast Two coastal trips left the docks today with ideal conditions on both. Sightings included two gray whales, 10 bottlenose dolphins, and 300 long-beaked common dolphins. Immediately outside the harbor entrance, on the morning trip, we found a nice group of 10 coastal bottlenose dolphins. We tagged along with them from the pier eastbound through the anchorage. It … Read More

2020 02-17 SB Coast Today marks the first day of our annual coastal whale watching schedule with trips departing  9 AM, 12 noon, and 3 PM every day (depending on weather and such). Today, the first two of these trips left the docks. Both headed southeast and we’re highly successful. Sightings included 2 humpback whales and 3000 long-beaked common dolphins.  Due to our southeasterly … Read More

2020 02-16 SB Channel There were lots of hungry animals in the Channel today, and conditions were spectacular. Captain Colton and the crew located 4 humpback whales and 700 long-beaked common dolphins. After a nice tour of the oil rigs off the coast of Carpinteria, we headed southwest to visit the western end of beautiful Santa Cruz Island.  As we … Read More

2020 02-15 SB Channel  We had a phenomenal looks today at cetaceans including 3000 long-beaked common dolphins and two Pacific gray whales. It was another one of those “bluebird days“ as Captain Dave calls them… clear skies, calm seas, no wind, clear water…all of the above! The largest megapod of dolphins was observed during our first sighting just about 5 miles … Read More

2020 02-14 SB Channel  Captain Dave and the crew report excellent conditions with calm seas and blue skies on this happy Valentine’s Day! Sightings included 2000 long-beaked common dolphins, 3 humpback whale‘s, and 1 Pacific gray whale. The first pod of dolphins located the Condor Express about 4 miles out from Santa Barbara Harbor. They were feeding actively in crystal clear … Read More

2020 02-12 SB Channel Other than a small nuisance bump from the Santa Ana winds blowing south of us, it was a perfect day for sight-seeing and cetaceans in the Santa Barbara Channel. Today we closely watched 3 Pacific gray whales and 2500+ long-beaked common dolphins. There were two “hot” areas for dolphin activity.  The first was located just 5 … Read More

2020 02-11 SB Channel  Today the Condor Express hosted a group of future scientists from an elementary school for a 3 1/2 hour oceanography and wildlife cruise. Most of the work was done right along the coast and we ran from the harbor west to Campus Point. Sightings included 2 Pacific gray whales, 200 long-beaked common dolphins, 25 Pacific white-sided dolphins, … Read More

2020 02-09 SB Channel  Gorgeous conditions prevailed in The Channel and it was especially calm out near the island which also had crystal clear blue water. All this made great cetacean spotting and watching conditions. Totals for the day included 9 Pacific gray whales and 3500+ long-beaked common dolphins. As has been the case for about a week now, we weren’t … Read More

2020 02-08 SB Channel  Yet another beautiful day in The Channel with clear skies and calm seas. Sightings for the trip included one humpback whale, five Pacific gray whales, 20 Dall’s porpoise, and 3000+ long-beaked common dolphins. Our first gray whale was a small northbounder that was found less than a quarter of a mile out from the Santa Barbara Harbor … Read More