ACS-LA Summertime Whale Watching Adventure - 2024

The ticket price is $179 per person ($169 for ACS members) - and everyone saves $5 if you sign up by August 10th! The trip includes a delicious continental breakfast served onboard.

About the trip:

We'll head to sea aboard the , a jet-powered catamaran custom built for whale watching. The Santa Barbara Channel is a nutrient rich environment with steep canyon ridges that force cold water to the surface. This upwelling creates a perfect habitat for blue whales, which feed almost exclusively on krill: small shrimp-like organisms especially abundant in the Santa Barbara Channel, particularly along the northern edge of the Channel Islands. Blues sometimes feed near humpbacks and fin whales (which also feed on schooling fish). We could see many other cetaceans including minke whales, dolphin (common, bottlenose, Pacific white-sided, Risso’s, and northern right whale), and Dall's porpoise, plus California sea lions, harbor seals, and elephant seals, and a large variety of seabirds. Also, on board will be guest naturalists narrating our adventure!

The Condor Express

With a specially built wave-piercing hull, the Condor Express provides an exceptionally smooth, stable ride. The vessel features a modified hydrofoil "wing" mounted between the hulls to provide lift to raise the boat at high speed, producing the smooth ride that this design is noted for. Powered by four computer controlled 740Hp Detroit Diesel engines which power high performance Hamilton Water-Jets, the Condor Express is environmentally friendly and safe around marine animals. Additionally, the vessel features walk-around decks, a huge upper sun-deck, a raised forward bow area, a full galley, and continuous side windows in the large comfortable cabin.

Guest Naturalists

We are very happy to welcome David Pereksta onboard with us! David Pereksta is an Avian Biologist for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in their Pacific Region office where he studies and evaluates the potential impacts of offshore energy production on birds and bats. He has spent hundreds of days observing birds at sea and is a regular leader on pelagic bird trips in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. In addition, David organizes a number of pelagic birding trips annually in Southern California. He has searched for birds throughout North, Central, and South America, and the Russian Far East, and has seen over 2,300 species in his travels; photographing nearly 1,800 of those.

Also on board will be our very own Alisa Schulman-Janiger! Alisa is a marine biologist, cetacean researcher, and educator. In addition to being the Director and Coordinator of the ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project, she is also a Co-Founder of the California Killer Whale Project. She is a naturalist on whale watching boats, NOAA Marine Mammal Observer, and responder for the NOAA California Stranding Response Team and the Large Whale Entanglement Response Team.

There will also be cetacean experts and enthusiasts on board to share their knowledge of the marine mammals we will be seeing.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Santa Barbara Landing, 301 West Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara, United States