07-11-2013: More Blue Whale Action, “Delta” The Blue Whale Shows Up, Risso’s Dolphins

Delta-blue-whale
“Delta” the blue whale shows up in the Monterey Bay just outside of Moss Landing. Photo: Giancarlo Thomae, 07-11-2013

The blue whales just keep coming. Today we were a handful of the largest animals to have ever roamed the earth: The mighty blue whale. They were all around in a 2-3 mile area and we could see other blows in the distance. It was one of those nice days where we knew we had whales just outside of Moss Landing because we were in communication with the rest of the whale fleet. We also had a visual on them in the distance. Reports of a basking shark, calm conditions. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Monterey Bay Blue Whale
Another blue goes deep for the krill. Photo: Giancarlo Thomae, 07-11-2013.

Within about 20 minutes from leaving the harbor, we were with a mother blue and her calf for a solid hour. Every once in a while a full-size blue would pass through the area, heading to the west at a solid clip. Then we decided to do a little exploring. So we headed out west and ran across a few more blues.

Monterey Bay Blue Whale
The mighty blue whale prowling for krill on the Monterey Bay. Photo: Giancarlo Thomae, 07-11-2013.

 

We also came across a couple of sly humpbacks. They surfaced a couple of times. Then we lost them. We were distracted by slow-moving pod of Risso’s dolphins. We had excellent looks.

So it’s still pretty much about the blues and the Risso’s dolphins. Hopefully some orcas will show up. We never know with the orcas.

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