Inquisitive Humpback Whales and Common Dolphins in Monterey Bay

A trio of inquisitive humpback whales provided a compelling look at cetacean curiosity today aboard Sanctuary. Encountered during both our morning and mid-day trips, these three individuals repeatedly closed the distance to our drifting vessel, spending upwards of forty minutes lingering near the hull before concluding the encounter with a series of breaches.

Our morning began just outside the harbor mouth, where a small pod of five coastal bottlenose dolphins joined us to ride the bow wave. These inshore dolphins regularly patrol shallow coastal waters and harbor entrances, using the displacement wave of vessels for efficient transit. As we worked further into the bay through a light surface chop, we tracked roughly twenty-five humpback whales distributed across the feeding grounds.

During the mid-day departure, offshore conditions brought an encounter with roughly 250 long-beaked common dolphins traveling in an active nursery and foraging group. Not long after, we re-encountered the same three humpbacks from the morning. When humpback whales choose to engage in this kind of prolonged, boat-side inspection, they maintain clear visual contact, often rolling slightly to track our platform while idling at the surface.

With water temperatures holding around 62°F and a low 3.6-foot swell on a broad 15-second period, the bay continues to sustain reliable aggregations of both odontocetes and foraging baleen whales.