Killer Killer Whales. T’was a beautiful morning yesterday, as Captain Danny led us “South” (as opposed to North). Goin’ South. as we say, is quite the treat; Monterey’s rugged coastline offers a spectacular back drop that gets better and better the farther you go. Just as we passed Cypress Point (the northern boundary of Carmel Bay), Danny’s eagle eye spotted some tiny blows. Large, black dorsal fins erupted from the surface. Indeed, killer whales! As we approached, the orcas displayed several breaches (some simultaneously), followed by rounds of tail slappings. At first, we counted seven (all apparently female, judging by the non-gigantic dorsal fins), when suddenly, Danny shouted, “Calf!” Incredibly, the you baby couldn’t have been more than five feet long, boasting a strong crimson hue and fetal folds: baby killer whales have relatively little blubber and thin skin, so that their blood vessels actually hast an orange/crimson color tone on their otherwise-white skin patches. Truly, we estimate that the calf could not have been more than a week old (possibly even only a few days). It is quite possible that the passengers and ourselves were the first ever humans to have laid eyes on the beautiful creature. May it live to see many hunts! After tracking the animals for many miles, we finally had to make our way back home. Within minutes, we spotted yet another group of orcas!!! After a quick stop, we pressed on… only to find four more!!! At last. a large male made an appearance, and we snapped a few quick photo I.D.’s of his massive dorsal fin. Finally, we abandoned the southern coast, and returned home in haste with our handful of mesmerized crew.
–Naturalilst Isaiah
