07-31-2015: Calm, Nice Marine Conditions All Day Long, 10-12 Humpbacks Feeding Next To Each Other

Monterey Bay Whale Watching
A pair of humpback whales go down for a dive. Photo: Michael Sack, sanctuarycruises.com 07-30-2015

The marine conditions have been stellar over the last few days. We have also had more humpbacks show up outside of Moss Landing. We started out this morning with an 08:00 am trip. We had decent visibility to the South and to the West. But there was some fog to the North and to the Northwest.

Monterey Bay Whale Watching
Moss Landing Humpbacks go down for some anchovies. Photo: Michael Sack, sanctuarycruises.com 07-30-2015

We left the harbor going very slow. If there were any whales close by I didn’t want to miss them. Because there was a kind of light fog that made our visibility come and go. The fog did start to clear pretty well. But we still didn’t see any whales. They were not where they have been.

Monterey Bay Whale Watching
More humpback whale fluking. Photo: Michael Sack, sanctuarycruises.com 07-30-2015

But I had the best visibility to the southwest and I could also see large numbers of sooty shearwater birds in that direction. So I made a course for the Southwest and followed the south ledge for about 4-5 miles. I didn’t see anything. I started to get worried. No whales for going on an hour. I don’t know when the last time this happened. I think the last time it took longer than an hour to find whales was going on two years now. This was disturbing. So I decided to head back across the ditch to the north ledge and see if anything was going on over there.

Monterey Bay Common Murres
Father and chick common murres. Photo: Michael Sack, 07-30-2015

Soon I noticed splashing. Looked like dolphins. So I got off the roof, took the helm back and made a course for the splashing dolphins. That would be the long-beaked common dolphins.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch
The three amigos going down for a dive. Photo: Michael Sack, 07-30-2015

So we spent about 30-minutes cruising around with about 30-50 dolphins as they rode the bow, alongside the boat and in our wake. That’s always fun.

Monterey Bay Whale Watching
This young calf must have breached over one hundred times. We think it’s some kind of record. Photo: Michael Sack, sanctuarycruises.com 07-28-2015

But after a while we needed to start making our way back to the harbor. That’s when I noticed a couple of blows to the north on the inside of the Pajaro Hole. And then two more. And six more. The next thing we knew we were in them. With 10-12+ whales working a 1/2 mile area. They were all around. They would come together and we would see eight whales coming up and cruising by the boat right next to each other. It was some good watching. They were staying up good with short dive times and not going very far when they came up.

Monterey Bay Whale Watching
Whale watching on the Monterey Bay. Photo: Michael Sack, sanctuarycruises.com 07-31-2015

And this was pretty much the story for all the trips today. Many whales. But they moved about 2.5-miles to the North.

 

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