Monterey Bay

There be whales here!

September 5, 2015

I tried to go whale watching in Monterey a couple of weeks ago.  That didn't work out.  All of the afternoon tours were cancelled due to rough conditions.  I vowed to return and on Saturday I did.  The water was rough but the tours were running.  What a day.

Old Fishermen's Wharf, Monterey, CA

I left Alameda at 1:30 in the afternoon, figuring even with bad Labor Day traffic I'd make it in plenty of time to secure a spot on the 5:30 tour at the Monterey Bay Whale Watch Center.  Traffic wasn't bad.  It was awful.  Door to door it took me three hours, twice as long as it takes in light traffic.  To my surprise there was a 4:20 tour that I hadn't seen on their website.  The boat hadn't left and they had one spot open.  I love it when a plan comes together.

California Sea Lion -- Monterey Bay, CA

Our first animal sightings weren't whales.  That honor would have to go to the ubiquitous sea lion who seem to inhabit every harbor in Northern California.  They are noisy and rude, but I still like 'em.  We also saw a flock of red phalaropes.  Cute little birds.  Lifers for me, but there's nothing too amazing about that.

Red Phalarope -- Monterey Bay, CA

Common Murre

Before we get to the whales let's take look at the animal that outnumbered any other we saw by a country mile: the common murre.  Murres are closely related to puffins, which is easy to visualize when seen in the water.  They look like they're lying flat on the water rather than sitting on top of it the way a duck or gull would.  They are also very noisy.  The father and its son or daughter stick closely together, the father calling so the young one can locate him after a dive.  When a bunch of these birds are close together they can make quite a racket.

Common Murre -- Monterey Bay, CA

It took a half hour or so to get out to the first whale.  The ocean was rough for the day trippers we were.  I was worried about sea sickness but that ended up not being a problem.  Over the course of the trip I counted six people either leaning over the railing or using their hat as a receptacle.  I could only see half the boat at any given time, so I'm guessing the overall count of sick tourists was a bit higher.  There was a little kid up front who was loving the rough waters.  His cries of "here comes a big one!" were fair warning to the rest of us on the boat.

Our First Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

The first whale we saw was alone.  He didn't put on much of a show, coming up for air a couple of times then disappearing for five minutes or so then reappearing for a few more breaths.  That was it.  The on-board biologist thought this particular whale might have been sleeping.  She explained a bit about how humpbacks sleep, I'm going to have to read up on that.  Basically, she said they never fully sleep the way a person would.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale

We continued up the coastline for another half hour or so until we were past Moss Landing and then we noticed that there seemed to be whales everywhere we looked.  There were numerous spouts off in the distance and several groups relatively close to the boat.  Along with the whales were the birds, hundreds of birds.  This was a happening spot.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Whale breath smells like a mix of low tide wetlands that have been baking in the hot sun for a few hours and a wet fart.  Yummy.  Although not so nice to smell, the sound they make when they blow is wonderful.  Hearing it, seeing it, smelling it, even from the respectful distance that our boat remained at all times, that was everything I was hoping for from this trip.  We even saw a couple of rainblows.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

We spent about an hour in the sweet spot with the whales before making the hour long trek back to the harbor.  We saw about twenty whales from a relatively close distance.  The overall official count for the trip was about fifty, the other thirty being seen in the distance.  The biologist told us there was an even better spot for seeing whales that day in deeper waters but the waves would be too big for us landlubbers.

Monterey Bay, CA

Monterey Bay, CA

Old Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA

Old Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA