I was on a whale-watching trip Wednesday aboard the Legacy off San Diego when dolphins stole the spotlight in spectacular fashion.

We had just observed a southbound gray whale that did not stay near the surface long enough for quality views, so our captain ventured farther offshore.

We saw common dolphins in the distance, beyond Point Loma. But they, too, moved lazily atop a calm ocean during an unseasonably warm afternoon.

But as we approached, still a few hundred yards away, the dolphins changed behavior as if they had been activated by a switch. 

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – We’re getting an early look at some of the data from this year’s Point In Time Count.

The San Diego River Park Foundation reported that the number of unhoused people it counted along the San Diego River is down significantly.

“We’ve been seeing in the last year that it feels like there are fewer people in the riverbed,” Sarah Hutmatcher of the San Diego Riverpark Foundation said. “It’s really great to be able to confirm it and to be honest, a little surprising even that it was even so low.”

Hutmatcher and her organization recently took part in this year’s Point In Time Count, an annual snapshot of how things are looking with the homelessness crisis in San Diego County.

“We were super excited this year to be able to say that there were under 150 people in the riverbed,” Hutmatcher said.

148 people were counted in San Diego and in Santee specifically, according to Hutmatcher.

To put things in perspective, the San Diego River Park Foundation counted more than 290 people living along the Riverbed with last year’s Point In Time Count. That’s a 50 percent drop from last year to this year’s count.

The Point In Time Count is a one-day count in January.

However, the foundation conducts seasonal censuses of those living along the riverbed.

“So when we counted in the fall in September of 2025, we counted 294 people living in the San Diego Riverbed, and now we’re seeing 148. So that’s a huge impact and a huge, you know, break for the river, which is really not a place that’s meant to be meant for human habitation,” Hutmatcher said.

ABC 10News has covered the efforts to help those who are staying along the riverbed, the clearing of encampments there, and people getting placed into housing as well.

“When I first got the numbers, I wanted to do the Irish jig,” Ketra Carter, the Program Manager for the City of San Diego’s Homelessness Strategies & Solutions Department, said.

While Carter couldn’t speak to the River Park Foundation’s numbers, she felt that all of the money and efforts put into the riverbed were a reason for the reduction.

“Not only were we able to utilize this money to facilitate temporary lodging and temporary stays, supportive services in connection to other services for self-sufficiency, we were able to get them housed into what is permanent stability,” Carter said.

Hutmatcher felt that effort is making a difference as well.

“I think the last 18 months has been a lot of that work of, you know, making contacts and talking to people and finding them alternative places to stay,” Hutmatcher said.

While the entire Point In Time Count data isn’t expected until this spring, there’s reason for optimism with these numbers.

“I hope that the San Diego Riverbed going down is representative of what’s happening in the rest of the county. I think it’s hard to say, you know, because people who are living in the riverbed are hopefully not just moving to other parts of the county, they’re moving into housing,” Hutmatcher said.

If you’re interested in joining the River Park Foundation on its next census, you can register here.

The lawsuit brought by Peter Seidler’s widow against her late husband’s brothers over management of his trust has been settled, ending a chapter in the battle between Sheel Seidler and the family and clearing an obstacle to the potential sale of the Padres.

A filing in Travis County (Texas) court dated Monday said a resolution between the parties had caused Sheel Seidler to nonsuit all claims in her original lawsuit filed in January 2025 except her claims of breach of duty to distribute and demand for accounting.

In her lawsuit, Sheel Seidler accused Matthew and Robert Seidler, as successor trustees of Peter Seidler’s trust, of withholding income she was owed.

Sheel Seidler also claimed in her suit that she was the rightful control person of the Padres and contested the naming of John Seidler, Peter’s eldest brother, as trustee. John Seidler’s elevation had occurred in December 2024, and Major League Baseball owners approved him as the team’s control person in February ‘25.

An attorney for the Seidler brothers declined comment on Wednesday, and representatives for Sheel Seidler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In November, the Seidler family announced it was exploring a sale of the team.

As the Seidler family explores a sale, the Padres are considered ‘beachfront real estate’

MLB does not expressly prohibit the sale of a franchise involved in litigation, but multiple sources predicted that a resolution would precede any such transaction.

Team and league executives are in the process of presenting the team’s financials to prospective buyers.

Joe Lacob, the principal owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, is the only publicly known suitor. Lacob met with Padres officials in San Diego last week. Two league sources said the group he heads is the leading suitor. Others involved in the process characterized that as not accurate.

While Forbes valued the Padres at $1.95 billion last March, those valuations are generally considered low. In November, multiple sources with knowledge of recent team sales placed the Padres’ value at more than $2.5 billion, based on recent sales that have resulted in teams fetching 5.5 times their annual revenue.

Timeline: A look at the Seidler family’s stewardship of the Padres

Approximately a dozen people or entities make up the Padres’ current ownership group.

Sheel Seidler and her three minor children are the “beneficial owners” of 24% of the team, which makes them the single largest shareholder.

The Seidler family, including Peter Seidler’s mother, Therese, who died in December, his siblings and other relatives, collectively controls another 20% of the team. The remaining portion of the ownership is split between eight to 10 other separate stakeholders.

This article will be updated.