Latest Short Film!
Channel of Giants : Celebrating Two Years as a Whale Heritage Area
Checkout our NEW Short Film highlighting what it means to be a whale heritage area. Join SBCWHA Co-Director Holly Lohuis on an expedition through the Santa Barbara Channel, where we encounter dozens of humpback whales, a species once near extinction off the California coast, now on the rise.
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH!
The Importance of Whale Heritage Areas
We are excited to announce the Santa Barbara Channel has become the 9th Whale Heritage Area in the world. This designation highlights the region’s commitment to promoting responsible ecotourism, providing more ocean educational opportunities, supporting on-going research and conservation efforts, and honoring the timeless cultural connection we have to whales, dolphins and porpoises.
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Stay up to date with the latest whale news, sightings, and science in the SBCWHA!
See A Spout? Watch out! – West Coast Boater Education Course ONLINE NOW!
The “See A Spout? Watch Out!” program is a course aimed to prepare boaters and sailors in the Greater Atlantic (Maine through Virginia), West Coast, and Hawaiian Island regions on how to safely navigate through waters shared with protected marine species, especially large whales, for the safety and well-being of both boaters and marine species. We…
Feeding Along the Way: Gray Whales Adapt in a Changing Ocean
It has been a month of wonderful gray whale sightings by all 8 responsible whale watching tour operators in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area. Each year, Eastern North Pacific gray whales complete one of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth, traveling more than 10,000 miles between their breeding lagoons in BajaCalifornia…
How Whale Watching Companies Support Marine Science in the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area
February 2026 When a whale surfaces in the Santa Barbara Channel, it’s not just an awe-inspiring moment forpassengers—it’s also a valuable data point for science. Thanks to the collaboration betweenWhale watching operators and researchers, every splash, breach, and fluke photo helpsscientists better understand the incredible marine life that makes this region one of the mostbiodiverse…
“Whale Heritage Areas are becoming the gold standard for responsible whale watching destinations worldwide. But they also have so much more to offer. By interweaving natural and cultural elements and placing communities at their very heart, these sites will become places where people respect, celebrate and protect cetaceans and their habitats long into the future.”
Jean-Michel Cousteau Honorary President,
World Cetacean Alliance
Founder, Ocean Futures Society