Month: October 2013

10-20-2013 The humpback and sea lion feeding frenzy continues

We are just in awe of the sheer numbers of marine mammals feeding right outside Moss Landing constantly for the last two months. The frenzy phenomena continues and it sure is wild to observe up close. We have up to a thousand sea lions charging schools of anchovies with the humpback whales emerging amongst them. It feels like you are in the middle of a National Geographic special every day out here! Add the super calm conditions and plenty of sunshine and we are in seventh heaven.

10-12-2013 Orca stole the show today

Anandasatara Orca rear viewWe had some great looks at the orca named Fat Fin today as he cruised about the bay. We love it when you get good looks at the white eye patch like we did and also we got to see a breach close up! The humpbacks are increasing in numbers and it is wild out there. Everywhere you look are blows – like Yellowstone in the bay!
We’ve added a 7am Monday trip. Photo: AnandaSatara

10-10-2013 Humpback Variety Show

Wow. Today we saw a full suite of humpback surface behaviors. What a display. The whales were first encountered a few miles west of Moss just surfacing and diving. I glanced back and saw a spy hopper. I monitored it for a few minutes and determined it was a chronic spy hopper. So we turned around and headed back towards Moss. Good decision. This familiar whale (nickname Maynard) repeatedly spy hopped in slow motion close to the boat for all to see. It was checking us out too. I love being able to look a whale right in the eye and see all the throat grooves, barnacles and tubercles so clearly. After about fifteen spy hops, we headed back west and went back and forth with rather squirrelly pairs of whales until we encountered a tail lobber. This behavior was contagious, with three different whales intermittently tail lobbing. We got great views of this behaviour, a rollover view of the pectoral fins and then a full breach directly in front of our bow! As if this wasn’t enough excitement, we came across of sweet nursery pod of Risso’s dolphins with three tiny orangish babies. What a delight. Time to head back in, but the show was not over. Two massive humpbacks came in for a close up visit. And I mean CLOSE. These whales approached our boat, diving within feet of our starboard and giving all aboard the thrill of a lifetime. Quite a day on the bay!

10-08-2013 Orca on the Prowl and Plenty of Humpbacks

The past two days we have spent time with one of our favorite Orcas, “Fat Fin”. This big bull often prowls solo and frequents Monterey Bay as a regular visitor. He is an impressive big male killer whale and always a thrill to get good views of which we sure did yesterday.
The humpbacks remain in strong form on the bay. We did have to go out a few miles to encounter them the last few days but once found they gave all great views as they approached the boat closely numerous times. Breaches and pec slaps were seen from a distance. The anchovies must be deeper out there as no lunge feeding has been seen for a few days now. Just a tip, though. If you are walking the beach near Santa Cruz keep your eyes on the water as lunge feeding and breaching were seen not far from shore yesterday.
Rissos dolphins are back in the bay with new very young calves, giving us “three cetacean” days the past few. Conditions are superb. We have room on our 10 am trips each day this week. The time is right!

10-3-2013 Whale Acrobats and Class Clowns today

I always tell people that “everyday is different” out there and today was a great example. We started out with a single juvenile humpback whale that spyhopped within 100 yards of the boat. so we just sat still and watched. This young and inquisitive whale popped up vertically in slow motion at least 15 times and kept us all enthralled. It had a distinctive patch of barnacles right on the tip of the chin which looked like a goatee so I dubbed it “Maynard G. Crebbs”. Remember Bob Denver’s, aka Gilligan’s, first character in Dobey Gillis as a goateed beatnik? Ok, I’m dating myself here, I know. It was too much fun with this whale.
As this wasn’t enough, we saw breaching in the not too distant horizon, so off we went to beat the incoming wind. What a reward we had! Another young whale was having a breach-fest. Another 90 minutes of entertainment ensued as this whale exuberantly breached over and over and over again. It got so I could predict exactly when and where the next breach would occur by watching the way it fluked. Some pec slaps and lob tails added icing to the cake.
We had the Save our Shores conservation staff aboard today and folks from all over the US and the world. Great day, great whales and Great passengers!

10-01-2013 The humpback whale show continues

We had to wander a bit to reach the action today, but once found we had pec slaps, tail lobs galore. It is really remarkable to observe how this anchovy feeding frenzy continues unabated for almost a month here in Monterey Bay. We’ve had the most concentration and best action quite near Moss Landing, but there are regular observations from shore near Santa Cruz, Aptos and Seaside. On a good day, I will kayak with the whales at dawn near my house, then jump on the boat at Moss to lead an amazing whale watch tour or two over the canyon and then back home and watching whales from the beach at sunset. I love where I live and work!