Butterfly Beach · Tarline

Tar/Oil Conditions

TAR/OIL SCORE (0-10 · 10 = clean) · 7 DAYSHow scoring works →

now 2.9

Surf

Offshore Buoy — West Santa Barbara46054 · obs + forecast · NDBC / wave model

no data

Swell direction · every 6h

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Loading swell x tar…

Weather

61.1°Fsunny3.3 ktUV 0Sunrise 6:34 AM · Sunset 7:18 PM

Today, hour by hour

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Wind direction

Sat 12 AM

Sat 4 AM

Sat 8 AM

Sat 12 PM

Sat 4 PM

Sat 8 PM

TodayUV 7 HighSunrise 6:34 AMSunset 7:18 PMMoonrise 12:16 AMMoonset 3:43 PM🌘 Waning Crescentnext full moon Sep 27

Live Observations

Jul 17, 6:37 AM anon Waterline Black line Broken-continuous >50% Greasy coat – Liquid Sheen – C

Jul 16, 4:45 PM SB Channelkeeper Volunteers ★ Waterline Black line Broken-continuous >50% Greasy coat – Liquid Sheen – A

Jul 16, 1:36 PM anon Wrack line Clean Sporadic 1-10% Greasy coat – Liquid – – C

Jul 16, 8:35 AM sandsbeach_sam Waterline Sheen Sporadic 1-10% Greasy coat – Liquid None – B

Jul 15, 10:51 AM UCSB COPR Lab ★ Rocks Black line Broken-continuous >50% Greasy coat – Liquid Tar balls – A

Jul 14, 4:44 PM anon Waterline Black line Patchy 11-50% Greasy coat – Liquid – – C

Jul 14, 2:35 PM elcap_eli Wrack line Sheen Broken-continuous >50% Greasy coat – Sticky Sheen – B

Jul 14, 12:56 PM SB Channelkeeper Volunteers ★ Dry sand Sheen Broken-continuous >50% Greasy coat – Liquid None – A

Jul 13, 3:33 PM anon Rocks Clean Trace <1% Greasy coat – Liquid Sheen – B

Jul 13, 2:34 PM anon Wrack line Black line Patchy 11-50% Greasy coat – Sticky – – A

Jul 12, 7:19 AM anon Wrack line Clean Patchy 11-50% Greasy coat – Liquid Sheen, Tar balls – C

Jul 10, 4:13 PM anon Rocks Clean Patchy 11-50% Balls Palm Liquid – – C

Jul 10, 6:01 AM anon Rocks Black line Broken-continuous >50% Film – – None – A

Jul 9, 4:14 PM eastbeach_ellie Waterline Sheen Patchy 11-50% Balls Pea Liquid – – B

Jul 9, 1:01 PM anon Waterline Clean Sporadic 1-10% Greasy coat – Hard – – A

Jul 8, 7:47 AM carp_surfer Waterline Clean Trace <1% Greasy coat – Hard – – B

Jul 7, 1:55 PM anon Waterline Black line Patchy 11-50% Film – – None – C

Jul 7, 9:28 AM moremesa_mo Dry sand Clean Broken-continuous >50% Film – – None – C

Jul 6, 6:53 PM anon Waterline Black line Trace <1% Greasy coat – Hard None – B

Jul 5, 6:37 PM anon Wrack line Black line Patchy 11-50% Balls Pea Hard None – C

16-Day Forecast

SAT SEP 5

Sat, 9/5 Morning 4.5ft · chest-to-head 2.7ft @ 11.1s – sideshore Partly cloudy · 69.6°F 96%

Sat, 9/5 Evening 4.5ft · chest-to-head 2.6ft @ 11.2s – sideshore Clear · 74.7°F 96%

SUN SEP 6

Sun, 9/6 Morning 5.6ft · overhead 2.9ft @ 10.8s – sideshore Overcast · 74.2°F 93%

Sun, 9/6 Evening 5.5ft · overhead 2.8ft @ 10.6s – sideshore Overcast · 77.3°F 93%

MON SEP 7

Mon, 9/7 Morning 4ft · chest-to-head 3ft @ 9.6s – sideshore Clear · 76.7°F 91%

Mon, 9/7 Evening 3.6ft · chest-to-head 2.8ft @ 9.7s – sideshore Clear · 81.4°F 91%

TUE SEP 8

Tue, 9/8 Morning 2.8ft · waist-high 2.4ft @ 9.5s – sideshore Overcast · 80°F 88%

Tue, 9/8 Evening 2.6ft · waist-high 2.3ft @ 9.1s – sideshore Mostly cloudy · 85.6°F 88%

WED SEP 9

Wed, 9/9 Morning 2.3ft · waist-high 2.1ft @ 8.6s – sideshore Overcast · 81.4°F 86%

Wed, 9/9 Evening 2.2ft · waist-high 1.9ft @ 8.9s – onshore Partly cloudy · 87.9°F 86%

THU SEP 10

Thu, 9/10 Morning 2.6ft · waist-high 2ft @ 8.8s – sideshore Clear · 78.7°F 83%

Thu, 9/10 Evening 3.2ft · chest-to-head 2.8ft @ 6.7s – sideshore Clear · 85.2°F 83%

FRI SEP 11

Fri, 9/11 Morning 3.5ft · chest-to-head 2.6ft @ 6.9s – sideshore Partly cloudy · 77.9°F 81%

Fri, 9/11 Evening 3.2ft · chest-to-head 3ft @ 6.1s – sideshore Overcast · 87.7°F 81%

SAT SEP 12

Sat, 9/12 Morning 1.1ft · shin-to-knee 2.3ft @ 7.2s – sideshore Partly cloudy · 75.5°F 78%

Sat, 9/12 Evening 1.2ft · shin-to-knee 2.6ft @ 6.7s – sideshore Clear · 87.5°F 78%

SUN SEP 13

Sun, 9/13 Morning 1.4ft · shin-to-knee 2.8ft @ 5.9s – sideshore Clear · 75.1°F 76%

Sun, 9/13 Evening 1.8ft · shin-to-knee 3.4ft @ 5.4s – sideshore Clear · 83°F 76%

MON SEP 14

Mon, 9/14 Morning – · – – – Clear · 73.9°F 73%

Mon, 9/14 Evening – · – – – Partly cloudy · 81.4°F 73%

TUE SEP 15

Tue, 9/15 Morning – · – – – Mostly cloudy · 73.6°F 71%

Tue, 9/15 Evening – · – – – Mostly cloudy · 78.5°F 71%

WED SEP 16

Wed, 9/16 Morning – · – – – Clear · 70.4°F 68%

Wed, 9/16 Evening – · – – – Clear · 75.7°F 68%

THU SEP 17

Thu, 9/17 Morning – · – – – Clear · 68.7°F 66%

Thu, 9/17 Evening – · – – – Clear · 74°F 66%

FRI SEP 18

Fri, 9/18 Morning – · – – – Clear · 69°F 63%

Fri, 9/18 Evening – · – – – Clear · 74°F 63%

SAT SEP 19

Sat, 9/19 Morning – · – – – – 61%

Sat, 9/19 Evening – · – – – – 61%

SUN SEP 20

Sun, 9/20 Morning – · – – – – 58%

Sun, 9/20 Evening – · – – – – 58%

Confidence is an estimate based on forecast lead time.

Nearby Buoys

Buoy 46054 just now

Wave ht 6.2ft

Period 11s

Water temp 64.6°F

Station 46054 on NDBC →

Photo Gallery

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Nearby Incident Reports

Aug 13, 2026 IncidentNews Pollution Surveillance Report off Santa Barbara; Montecito, California 9.7 km Source ↗

Aug 12, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: REPORT DATE: 08-13-2026 REPORT TIME: 1320 UTC REGION: PACIFIC SUB REGION: CALIFORNIA AREA/BLOCK: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 6658 IMAGE DATE: 08-12-… 9.7 km —

Aug 11, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER DISCOVERED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 18.3 km —

Jul 12, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER REPORTED A SHEEN OFFSHORE OF SUMMERLAND BEACH, POSSIBLY FROM A NATURAL SEEP. 2.1 km —

Jun 23, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER IS REPORTING A MYSTERY SHEEN IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN 10.3 km —

May 30, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER REPORTING AN UNKNOWN SHEEN AND TAR BALLS ON THE BUTTERFLY BEACH. THE PRECISE SOURCE AND CAUSE ARE UNKNOWN. THE SHEEN IS COVERING AN… 2 km —

May 28, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER REPORTED THE DISCOVERY OF AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE ON THE WATERS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 5.6 km —

May 13, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER STATES A RELIEF VALVE RELEASED PRODUCED WATER AND CRUDE OIL, WHICH RAN DOWN THE CONDUCTOR IMPACTING HTE PACIFIC OCEAN. 9.6 km —

May 11, 2026 IncidentNews Fire on Platform Habitat; Santa Barbara, California 15 km Source ↗

Apr 29, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER STATES THAT THICK TAR PATTIES "THE SIZE OF COW PIES" ARE WASHING UP ONT THE SHORE OF FARIA BEACH. COVERING APPROX .25 MILES TO. 5 MI… 23.8 km —

Apr 26, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER STATED THAT THEY DISCOVERED A VESSEL THAT BROKE IT'S MOORING. BECAUSE OF THIS THE VESSEL RAN AGROUND ON A BEACH AT THE LOCATION. … 1.2 km —

Show older (13)

Feb 11, 2026 NRC raw raw report — unverified: ///POTENTIAL RELEASE/// VESSEL WENT HARD AGROUND AND IS BREAKING APART ON SHORE. THERE IS NO SIGN OF A RELEASE BUT THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR… 3.1 km —

Dec 29, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER STATED THAT A SEPARATING TANK ON A PLATFORM RELEASED (5) TABLESPOONS OF CRUDE OIL INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE CAUSE OF THE RELEAS… 9.9 km —

Dec 24, 2025 IncidentNews Beached Sailboat on East Beach; Santa Barbara, California 5.1 km Source ↗

Nov 30, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CRUDE OIL DISCHARGED FROM A LOADING DOCK ROLL-OFF BIN ONBOARD A PLATFORM DUE TO OPERATOR ERROR (HIT A RAILING WHILE LOADING). 9.7 km —

Nov 11, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER REPORTED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE. 20.9 km —

Oct 10, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER STATES UNKNOWN OIL WAS DISCOVERED DISCHARGING FROM A 6 INCH PIPE RISING OUT OF THE SAND DUE TO AN UNKNOWN CAUSE AT THIS TIME. CALLER… 2.6 km —

Aug 24, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: ****THIS IS A POTENTIAL RELEASE REPORT**** THE CALLER DISCOVERED A SAILBOAT AGROUND ON BUTTERFLY BEACH. NO POLLUTION OBSERVED AT THIS TIME… 2.9 km —

Aug 17, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: THE CALLER DISCOVERED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL. 23.4 km —

Jul 26, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER REPORTED AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE. 21.1 km —

Jun 8, 2025 NRC raw raw report — unverified: CALLER STATES DISCOVERING AN UNKNOWN SHEEN FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THE CALLER STATES THE SHEEN WAS 1 TO 2NM LONG X 1NM … 20.5 km —

Jan 6, 2023 IncidentNews Sheen Report at Summerland Beach, Summerland, CA 1.4 km Source ↗

May 15, 2020 IncidentNews Whale carcass; Carpinteria, CA 9 km Source ↗

Dec 8, 2008 IncidentNews Platform A; Santa Barbara Channel, CA 9.7 km Source ↗