Month: January 2013

01-29-2013: Rough Marine Conditions, Close in Grays

The rough marine conditions have made the going rough over the last week. Heavy winds and steep swells is what we’ve been dealing with. It’s been too rough to get out to the “Gray Whale Highway”. But we have had some decent looks just outside the Monterey Harbor on the days we’ve tried.

The good news is that conditions are improving with calm water and sunny conditions as we head into the weekend. So let’s go check out some gray whales, dolphins and maybe even some passing orca’s.

01-23-2013: Incredible Marine Conditions, Great Looks at Grays, Common Dolphins and Orcas

We’ve had perfect weather over the last couple of weeks. Little to no swell, glassy ocean surface and warm sunny skies. Winter whale watching doesn’t get whole lot better.

We’ve been having some amazing looks large groups of gray whales. We call them “mega-pods”. Usually we see the gray whales traveling either solo or in small scattered groups of two or three.

Gray Whales
Gray whales move along as they make their way south to their breeding and calving grounds in Baja. Photo: Sack. 01-21-2013

We love it when we come across a “mega-pod”. It’s quite a sight to behold when a group of 10-12 gray whales start surfacing, blowing and throwing up their tail flukes in together.

Risso's Dolphin
Risso’s Dolphin breaches next to the boat. Photo: Sack. 01-20-2013

And then there are the dolphins. The common dolphins tend to be acrobatic. But we also see the Risso’s dolphins giving it an attempt with a head slap. We had a group of about 200 common dolphins chase the boat, jumping out of the water behind us in our wake and then jumping out of the water in front of the bow. What a spectacular sight.

Common Dolphin
A long-beaked common dolphin jumps out of the water as it follows alongside the boat. Photo: Sack 01-22-2013

The orcas have been coming and going. But we’ve been seeing the same two regularly over the last couple of weeks. Most recently we followed a lone male almost to Carmel Beach and then along Point Lobos. The background scenery in the Carmel Bay is breathtaking.

01-12-2013 Orcas Take down a Common Dolphin

What an amazing orca encounter we had today. We came upon an adult female orca (CA138) with her two offspring hunting on the north ledge of the canyon this afternoon. At first they were just cruising and on the prowl. Suddenly they started what I call “power bursts” which indicate they have located a prey item. Today’s unlucky target was a lone common dolphin. This one was fast, though, and had quite an endurance. The trio of orcas chased this little dolphin in a zig-zag pattern for over fifteen minutes before it finally tired and was caught. The ending was a spectacle as only orcas can provide as they flung the poor porpoise up into the air several times. It is hard to watch one of my favorite marine mammals getting chased and killed, but this is nature and orcas are remarkable animals.

01-01-2013 and 01-03-2013: Orcas and Gray Whales

We had a terrific start to the year with sunny conditions and smooth seas. And then there’s the gray whales. We’ve been seeing them in pulses. It seems like every half hour we see another wave of spread out groups of three or more. And then nothing for about 30 minutes. Maybe a single blow off in the distance. We had a couple of nice “swim-bys” by a few large grays.

The best gray encounter we’ve had yet this year was today when three gray whales where showing us some mating behavior. I guess they couldn’t wait for the lagoons down in Baja. Soon after we found the mating trio of grays, a mixed pod of about 20-30 Risso’s dolphins and Pacific White-sided dolphins came buzzing around the area. We couldn’t tell if they were harassing the whales or playing with them. But it was interesting to see.

The grays usually are single minded in their quest to get down to their breeding and calving grounds in several warm water lagoons in Southern Baja.

On the way in on Monday we heard a report of orcas in The Bay about 30 minutes from where we were. So we decided to go for it. We had some great looks at these magnificent animals. We cruised with them for as long as we could without having to worry about getting back in the dark. I think we were pushing a six hour trip. But everyone had a great time. Just a handful people enjoying the ocean and the animals in delightful conditions. Ah yes.