Calm seas once again greeted us as we ventured out into the bay. Strangely enough, the dozens of humpbacks that had been roaming the near-coastal waters off the Peninsula have moved on, and taken their “normal” positions out along the edge of the canyon/shelf. Speaking of which, almost immediately upon reaching said edge, we came upon several humpback whales engaged in occasional surface feeding. With thousands of red necked phalaropes (a bird, not an insult) along with gulls and pelicans and shearwaters (more birds), throw in a fee dozen sea lions and relatively clear waters and I myself was pretty mesmerized. I swear, it was so calm you could almost hear the anchovies- never mind. After a while, the humpbacks settled down and their behavior changed towards “milling about” so we broke off and followed the canyon south. After a long search, we sighted a mysteriously whale just off Point Lobos. It was just far enough away, and erratic enough that we couldn’t tell what species it was so we stopped and waited for it to resurface. After a long wait, the animal never resurfaced, so based on our location, size, the color (noticeably lighter than a humpback), and lack of an observable dorsal fin (that we noticed) we concluded it that it was likely a Grey Whale, and that it likely had a calf with it (explaining the elusive behavior, given that Orcas are out here hunting them). Hence, we wrapped around to the west and followed the canyon north and found a scattering of humpback whales, settling on a pair, and stared holes into them (great looks, actually!) Until it was time to go home. Just as we rounded the Point and reentered the Bay, another Cow-Calf pair of Grey Whales popped up off the port bow (and close!), and we had no trouble identifying them or getting our passengers a good few looks before they sounded… and a handful of Risso’s Dolphin were sighted in the distance, though unfortunately we were well out of time, and our afternoon trip’s passengers would be waiting. Overall a solid trip, with great people, great weather, and great animals. Our afternoon found 5 humpbacks out west at “The Edge” and a pod of 20 Risso’s dolphin (which – this time – we had time to watch).
-Naturalist Isaiah
