02-05-2016: Nice Looks at a Trio of Gray Whales, 300-500 Common Dolphins, Warm Sunny Conditions

California Gray Whale
California Gray Whale tail-fluke. Photo: Michael Sack, 02-05-2016

Today turned out beautiful. It’s a good thing the conditions were nice, because we had to go for an hour and a half before we came across anything. We enjoyed some excellent looks at a nice group of three southbound, gray whale travelers. They were staying up nicely as we tracked them for a handful of dive cycles.

Monterey Bay Common Dolphins
We’ve been seeing these long-beaked common dolphins on almost every trip. Photo: Michael Sack, 02-05-2016.

With conditions so nice, we decided to head out a little further to the West until we got the ledge of the canyon where it dropped off to over 4,500 feet deep. We followed the ledge north until we got to where we call “The Corner.” The ledge of the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon turns toward Moss Landing at that point. We always find more productivity along the ledge of the canyon. Fortunately both the northwest ledge and the southwest ledges both lead to Moss Landing. Because the Moss Landing Harbor mouth is where the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon begins. So we followed the ledge in and that’s when we came across these long-beaked common dolphins.

California Gray Whale
California Gray off Point Pinos. Photo: Michael Sack, 02-05-2016.

By the time we left the grays as they journeyed south to Baja, we were almost to Cypress Point. That’s the north end of the Carmel Bay. So it ended up being a nice ride. Until the humpbacks show up again in April, we will likely be running 4-5 hour trips. Stay tuned.

California Gray Whale

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