No words. Should have sent a poet… Where do I even begin? Let’s keep it simple. Our morning trip started out like every morning trip these last few weeks. Risso’s Dolphin continue to peruse the coastline just off Pacific Grove. Only a few miles north of there, dozens of humpback whales ravage the anchovies, and at one point we had a group of 8 humpbacks come together alongside the boat and with the occasional lunge feed. After checking the time, we were barely half way through the trip, and had already accumulated 10 trips worth of whale watching! Not content to sit around in one spot all day, we chose to venture west and have “a look around.” Just as we neared the edge of the continental shelf, we spotted several humpback blows and – no way – killer whales! Holy smokes, the humpbacks and the killer whales seemed to be dog fighting! As we neared the animals, black footed albatross and gulls swarmed overhead, and a sweet odor filled the air: blubber. Our killer whales had – well – killed something, and something big (judging by the massive oil slick around us). Only once before have I seen this: the humpback whales were defending the carcass from the orcas and charged and swatted their tails as the orcas swarmed this way and that. We watched this insane interaction for as long as we could, before running home for a second trip. No sooner did the last passenger stepped aboard did we toss the lines, and race back out. Northwesterly winds kicked up, and choppy seas added a “full value” experience, as we bucked it out west, and reacquired the orcas AND the humpbacks, who STILL continued to fight over the carcass (which we confirmed as a grey whale!) Then, as if things couldnt get any crazier, the humpbacks surfaced RIGHT NEXT to the boat, and then again, and again. We couldn’t believe it, the humpbacks were getting friendly with us! While orcas swam around this way and that, our 2 humpbacks hovered not 6 feet from the boat… for over half of an hour, rolling around and showing us their bellies repeatedly. Then, the sounded, and disappeared. And the orcas? Vanished. All at once, all of our whales absconded, and after waiting nearly 15 minutes, we decided it was time to go home. Un-be-lievable…
-Naturalist Isaiah
