What season is this? January and February have proven to be exceptionally warm and mild as far as conditions go. Today was no exception, as yesterday’s larger swells backed down to nothing, and warm, sunny skies yielded little to no wind. Seizing this beautiful weather, today’s morning whale watchers were treated to two grey whales, still southbound on their migration. After requisite good looks, we ran out west to deep water over the middle of the Monterey Submarine Canyon where depths of 4000 feet were read on the sonar. There, we encountered a massive pod of some one thousand Risso’s Dolphin, mixed in with the occasional Pacific White Sided Dolphin AND Northern Right Whale Dolphin. A long ways from home, we eventually had to make our way back to take out a second trip. Staying a bit closer to shore this time, we found a group of 3 southbound Greys, which we watched for the duration of the trip. While watching them, a pair of northbound Greys passed us by, early birds on the return trip to Alaska. Having not eaten for the last three months, they must be, understandably, quite hungry! Overall, a solid day, even capped with a few sea shanties 😉
-Naturalist Isaiah
