Monterey Bay Humpback Whale Breach
Humpback Whale Breaches. Photo: Chase Dekker, sanctuarycruises.com

The shark sightings keep coming! Right outside the harbor, we witnessed a 15 foot great white shark successfully hunt a sea lion! This is another example of why we love Monterey Bay, you truly never know what you’re going to see. Photos: Erica Page

White Shark Outside of Moss Landing Harbor
A white shark hunts and kills a California sea lion just outside of the Moss Landing Harbor. Photo: Erica Page, sanctuarycruises.com

 

White Shark at Moss Landing Harbormouth
White shark attack on California sea lion right outside of the Moss Landing Harbor. Photo: Erica Page, sanctuarycruises.com

 

California Sea Lion being Chased by White Shark
This California sea lion is being chased by the white shark shown above. Photo: Erica Page, sanctuarycruises.com

Spring conditions have prevailed over the last couple of weeks. Which means ok conditions in the morning and rough, windy conditions in the afternoon. We’ve had to cancel a number of our afternoon trips over the last week or so. Although these afternoon conditions can make for very rough or impossible whale watching, this is an essential part of the system for the incredible productivity that we see in the Monterey Bay.

The strong Northwesterly winds that we typically experience from March through July is what drives a condition called upwelling. Upwelling occurs when the wind driven currents at the surface are replaced with the cooler, nutrient rich waters from the deep canyon walls. When this nutrient-rich water makes its way to the surface and comes into contact with sunlight, abundant phytoplankton blooms occur.

The anchovies and krill are attracted to and eat the phytoplankton. Whales, dolphin, sea lions, birds and more feed on the krill and anchovies.