Dan rest be assured that the oil slick at Goleta is as natural as that gray whale you saw. The slicks form on the outside of the kelp beds off I.V. It is a matter of wind, current, and tide that it slides away from there. After watching this for over fourty years I can only state these Coal Point slicks area chornic condition that the local marine environment puts up with if not has adapted to. UCSB has used this for decades as an unusal field condition for research. The return of the kelp beds after almost 20 years is a return to normal. More concentrated slicks will be a part of this. Trust me you can learn to live with the oil however frustrating and messy it can be.
Take care with the Whales. I have been "holed" by a gray from the barnacles on its back.It was an exciting paddle back into the beach befor my surf ski sank. It's probably not a problem with the newer poly plactic boats other than maybe putting you in the water. These whales are what can be described as "kelpers". They swim up and into the kelp in order to knock off some critters to fliter feed on. In addition in about a month we will see mothers with babies migrating up the coast. They like the kelper behavior too as well as having the kelp to rest against while nursing. A couple of times I have had a mom or nanny flop a fluke a me when I got to close to a baby.