Category: Uncategorized

07-03-2011: Blue Whales, Large Pods of Humpbacks, a massive Mola Mola, Aerobatic and Bow-riding Pacific White-sided Dolphins, a Pod of 300+ leaping Northern Right Whale-dolphins and a Newborn Risso’s Dolphin

The Mola Mola A.K.A. Giant Ocean Sunfish
What a difference a day makes. Today was one for the record books. The variety of marine species we encountered was just phenomenal.

The sightings started out early with a 400-pound Mola Mola (See photo at right). These are one of the oddest creatures we see out here. They are also known as “Sunfish” because they pretty much just lethargically float at the surface and soak up the sun. They move very slowly, if at all. We used to see these animals a lot on the Monterey Bay. Now we only see them once in awhile. The one we saw today looks like it either was hit by a boat or was on the wrong end of a cruel sea lion.

Then there were the Pacific White-sided Dolphins. What a show they put on. They looked liked they could have been trained at Seaworld and escaped. These wacky critters were continually launching out of the water doing flips and twists in what appeared to be a successful attempt to entertain us. It was really something to see. Then, later in the trip, we came across another pod of Pacific White-sided dolphins that bow-rided and buzzed the boat for at least 30-minutes.

We had to go out about 10 miles before we got into whales. But once we were out there, there were more humpbacks deep feeding together than we have ever seen. We were observing groups of 6-10 humpbacks surfacing, porpoising and fluking together within a few feet of each other. There were probably 20-30 animals within about a one-mile area with the occasional blue whale or two steaming by heading to the west.

The highlight of the trip for me was to see a massive blue whale throw up it’s massive tail fluke just before a deep dive. Truly an amazing sight to behold.
On the way in we came across a small pod of Risso’s dolphins that included what had to be a newborn. This was the cutest thing we’ve seen out there. The little guy was only about two and a half feet long!

07-02-2011: Extreme Whale Watching in Extreme Conditions and an Abbreviated Trip

Marine conditions were less than ideal today. Much less than ideal. Although we did have some good looks at a blue whale, a humpback and a handful of Risso’s dolphins, the winds picked up early with steep, solid 5′ swells making the going rough. And did I mention the fog? It wasn’t a pretty picture.

We thought we could at least get out into the zone before the conditions picked up and then ride the weather back as we checked out the whales. But as soon as we got a couple of miles out, it was clear that this was going to be a short trip and we knew that we were going to be issuing “whale checks” for everyone.

But we knew where the whales were and we wanted to at least get a couple of sightings so we kept going. We could have stayed out, slammed everyone about and said “welcome to whale watching on the Monterey Bay” and that would have been the end of it. I know if I was a passenger I would not have been very happy about it.

That is how we operate. We genuinely care that passengers enjoy their whale watching experience. We treat customers like we would like to be treated. We want to share with all of our passengers the amazing experience of being able to spend at least an hour or two observing these incredible animals in decent marine conditons.

So we offered “whale checks” to everyone on the trip so that they could come out again for free another time when conditions are better and enjoy a true Monterey Bay Whale Watching experience. Usually “whale checks” are reserved for those rare trips when we don’t see whales. But conditions deteriorated so fast today, that we decided to have everyone out again on a day with better marine conditions. There were a handful of other whale watching boats out there with us. But they didn’t give “whale checks”. They saw whales and that was that.

Just one of the many things that sets us apart from other whale watching companies.

07-01-2011: More Close-up Views of Surface-Feeding Blue Whales and Humpback Whales

More humpback lunge feeding. We saw this same animal last week.
The feeding frenzy continues. We were with at least four blue whales and three humpbacks today for almost three hours. We had light winds but steep, consistent, five foot swells until about 12:30. Then the winds kicked up pretty solid and it was over. Despite the rough conditions, we had amazing views of both blue whales and humpbacks surface feeding on large krill patches. We even had a rare sighting of a blue whale lunge feeding about 25 feet off our bow. Blues don’t usually come very close to the boat. But today, they were coming within 25 yards of the boat regularly. It was truely spectacular.

We also had a humpback cruise by us within about ten feet with it’s mouth and baleen totally exposed (see photograph above).

06-30-2011: Blue Whales, Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Albatross

The feeding frenzy in Monterey Bay has officially begun. The last three days on the bay we have had many humpback whales lunge feeding right at the surface right next to our boat. It is a thrilling spectacle to see these huge animals open their mouths as they surface, showing off their baleen, the pink roofs of their mouths and their bulging throat pouches. At times the bright orange krill streams out the sides of their mouth.

The blue whales are in on the action as well. They roll on their sides to feed and show off their big pectoral flippers and the side of their huge flukes. Sometimes the two species are feeding side by side, which really illustrates how very huge the blues are at eighty feet long.

Dolphin sightings today included four species: bottlenose, northern right whale, Pacific white-sided and Risso’s. The pelagic birds are also abundant with many black-footed albatross, sooty shearwaters and fulmars.

06-29-2011: Blue whales and Humpbacks Surface Feeding Together

Today was probably the best day yet this year in terms of marine conditions and the quantity of whales we saw. The Krill blooms are in full swing. Within about 45 minutes out of Moss Landing Harbor we spotted our first spout and knew right away we were in the zone. As soon as we started to move in the direction of the first spout, we started seeing animals all around us surface feeding. We had just stumbled on at least six-ten blue whales and 10-15 humpbacks surface feeding within about a one-mile diameter of each other.

We had to be careful just putting the boat into gear because the animals kept popping up all around the boat. We usually see solitary blue whales or maybe a pair and they generally exhibit limited surface time. Today was different. The blues were surface feeding and showing us their pectoral fins regularly and we even observed some blue whale lunge feeding. We also observed a blue whale feeding and surfacing together with two humpbacks.

There were also bands of three and four humpbacks surfacing around the boat as they fed on the plentiful surface krill. It just keeps getting better and better.

Check out the video footage we shot from today (06-29-2011).

06-25-2011: Blues, Humpbacks, Risso’s, Northern Right Whale and Bottlenose Dolphins

Pacific bottlenose dolphins appeared just outside the harbor to start the trip.
Risso’s dolphins cruised by the boat and northern right whale dolphins played at our bow.

Incredible whale behavior –
Impressive surface feeding by humpback whales. One whale repeatedly stuck its face above the water holding its bulging mouth open scooping up krill. It would hold this position for up to thirty seconds giving us an excellent view of its entire mouth, rostrum and throat. This was not a quick surface lunge, as we have observed before. It was a slow motion, almost stationary posture and appeared as if the whale was standing upright with its face above the water and a mouthful of krill, letting the excess seawater trickle out of the sides of its mouth. Seeing a whale exhibit this type of behavior so close to the boat is phenomenal and gives you a real sense of the whale’s individuality.

Later we had a humpback “wagging” its huge tail fluke and throwing up huge splashes over and over. It swam right below the surface showing its huge pectoral flippers reflecting a brilliant turquoise hue.

And to cap the day’s sightings we had another humpback swim within a few feet of our bow and then breach clear of the water only fifteen yards from the boat.

Check out the video footage we shot from today (06-25-2011).

06-24-2011: More Orcas just outside Moss Landing and Blue Whales a few Miles Out

It’s been all about the orcas for the last few days. There’s been a pod of orcas hunting and feeding just outside the Moss Landing Harbor over the last few days. We were with a pod today for more than two hours. Then we decided to head out a little further and found two Blue Whales feeding on Krill at the surface. Including a Sulphur Bottom Blue whale. Most blue whales have a turquoise blue tint to them. Sulphur bottom blue whales have a yellowish tint to them. It just keeps getting better and better.

Check out the video footage we shot from today (06-24-2011).

06-23-2011: Orcas Feeding, Blue Whales and Humpbacks

It just keeps getting better and better. About a mile outside of Moss Landing Harbor we witnessed a very active and playful pod of orcas. Including a calf that seemed fixated on tail-slapping a careless fulmar (a species of seabird). We have some incredible video footage we will be posting soon. We shot so much video footage it is taking some time to go through it all.

This was quite a feeding display we witnessed today. There were maybe four or five orcas feeding on what appeared to be either an elephant seal or a sea lion. The feeding frenzy just kept going on.
After about 45 minutes of this amazing display we decided to move on and explore The Bay for some other sealife. Within about 20-minutes we came across a blue whale that was surface feeding on a Krill patch and had some great looks at this animal as well. We were on a roll. So we headed out into some deeper water in hopes of finding a humpback or two. And sure enough, within about 45 minutes we came upon two humpbacks and had some excellent looks at these two as they passed within twenty-yards of the boat.

The Monterey Bay is teaming with life right now. Over the last week we have had incredible close up looks at fin whales, blue whales, humpbacks, orcas, a leatherback turtle, a mola mola, huge Krill patches at the surface and a whole lot more. If you’re thinking about getting out on The Bay to witness some of these phenomenal natural wonders, now is definitely the time!

02-19-2012- Extreme Whale Watching in Rodeo Riding Conditions and Excellent Gray Whale Views

It’s a good thing we had a seaworthy group today. We had some rough conditions and covered a lot of water. And the 15-17 knot winds didn’t help. Normally we would have turned around out of concern for increasing weather as we got closer to the afternoon and a rough ride back into weather. That’s usually what happens on the Monterey Bay. But the forecast called for decreasing winds and swell, so we carried on in our quest to sight the mighty gray whale.

After a long ride out to about five miles off of Point Pinos, we were finally rewarded with some amazing views. One good thing about whale watching in 6′-10′ swells is that when a 45′ animal is moving along parallel to the incoming swells, sometimes you get to see most of the animal in the face of the swell. And that’s what we got to see today.

It is quite a sight to behold. Usually we only get to see part of a whale. About 30% of their back and then a tail fluke. But today was quite something so see. When the timing happened right, the swell exposed the animal in the face of the swell. Very cool. But the conditions weren’t for the faint of stomach. Luckily, just about everyone quite enjoyed the ride and were very happy to be out there.

02-18-2012 – Rough Weather gets in the way, we’ll try Again Tomorrow

Rough weather got in the way again today. We had two trips scheduled for today. One of the trips was an early 8:00 am trip that we thought we might be able to sneak in before the weather picked up. So we gave it shot. We realized this morning after reviewing the marine forecast that the weather was likely going to come up in the afternoon. But after about 30 minutes of running we realized our efforts may be futile. But we kept moving along at a snails pace hoping to be able to get out into the zone before it picked up too much then just ride the weather back.

It’s kind of nice when you’re going with the weather. So the strategy is to get out there in The Zone as fast as possible and then just kind of hang with animals with the weather behind us. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way today. We never quite made it to The Zone.

We were a couple of miles short when white caps started appearing everywhere, making spotting quite difficult. So we turned the boat and enjoyed the ride back hoping to spot some dolphins, orcas or maybe even a wayward gray. But all we found were sea otters. I think the sea otters are the cutest animals we see out there. So that was good. We’ll try again tomorrow.

02-05-2012: Cooperative Gray Whales, Mega-pod of Long-beaked Common Dolphins, Lingering Risso’s Dolphins and Stellar Marine Conditions

Today was the best day we’ve had out there so far for this gray whale season. I love whale watching in Tee-shirt. There were plenty of whales all over once we got into the zone. But more importantly, the whales that we were with stayed up at the surface more than they were under and gave us great views.

Then we came across a small pod of Risso’s dolphins that were pretty much just hanging out in one place. We think there may have been some mating behavior going on as a couple of times we saw on of the animals turn upside down.

The big story today was the massive pod of between 2,000-3,000 long-beaked common dolphins. The animals were moving through the area close together, jumping out of the water as they buzzed the boat and followed us, bow-riding and generally getting rambunctious. It was a sight to behold. We could see dolphins jumping around and moving about in a 1/2 mile area. Very cool.

02-02-2012: Gray Whales Still Passing by in Force, Great looks at Risso’s Dolphins and Common Dolphins

Common Dolphins in The Monterey Bay
Common Dolphins Chasing Us in The Monterey Bay

The last couple of weeks have been about as good as it gets for gray whale whatching. We’ve seen dolphins just about every day and the weather has generally been very pleasant. And today was no different. We spotted a pod of about 20 Risso’s dolphins right outside the Moss Landing Harbor.

The gray whales continue to pass by The Bay in good numbers. We were with at least six Grays today that gave us excellent looks and we could see many other blows in the distance. They were doing consistent dive cycles of between five and seven minutes, blowing three to four times and then throwing their tail flukes up every time. Observing four or five whales throwing their tail flukes almost simultaneously is a marvelous sight to behold.

But my favorite today were the pod of about 300 common dolphins buzzing by the boat, bow riding, jumping out of the water and following the boat. Delighted passengers enjoyed observing the animals jumping in front of the boat.

02-04-2012: Gray Whales, Long-beaked Common Dolphins, Decent Marine Conditions

The Gray whale southbound migration seems to be holding strong. We’re definetly not seeing the large numbers we were two weeks ago. Today the whales we were with seemed to be moving fast and not staying at the surface as much as they were under. But they did give us tail flukes on every dive.

Long-beaked Common dolphins continue to show up with regularity. Today we were with a pod of about 500 of the dolphins that were in a feeding frenzy with a large flock of brown pelicans. We had rare glimpses of dolphins feeding on sardines at the surface.

02-05-2012: Cooperative Gray Whales, Mega-pod of Long-beaked Common Dolphins, Lingering Risso’s Dolphins and Stellar Marine Conditions

Today was the best day we’ve had out there so far for this gray whale season. I love whale watching in Tee-shirt. There were plenty of whales all over once we got into the zone. But more importantly, the whales that we were with stayed up at the surface more than they were under and gave us great views.

Then we came across a small pod of Risso’s dolphins that were pretty much just hanging out in one place. We think there may have been some mating behavior going on as a couple of times we saw on of the animals turn upside down.

The big story today was the massive pod of between 2,000-3,000 long-beaked common dolphins. The animals were moving through the area close together, jumping out of the water as they buzzed the boat and followed us, bow-riding and generally getting rambunctious. It was a sight to behold. We could see dolphins jumping around and moving about in a 1/2 mile area. Very cool.