The Grey Whale continue their steady march south to Baja California for winter breeding. With captain Rod at the helm, the Pacifica ventured out offshore, just outside Monterey Bay to find scattered handfuls here and there. Today boasted beautiful weather, with calm winds, relatively warm and sunny, and gentle waves rolling slowly under the boat. The morning whales made us work a little extra harder than normal: holding their breathes for 10 minutes at a time. We tracked a single whale south of Carmel Bay, to even just south of Point Lobos and the Carmel Highlands. Such territory is seldom trammeled by our trips, and when we do venture so far, I am always exctatic (the rugged mountainous coastline is unbeatable). Just as we were nearing the end of the trip, a group of three appeared, and we got fantastic looks at them before making the long voyage home. The afternoon trip saw even calmer conditions, as winds continued to die down, and a group of four grey whales was sighted just off Point Pinos, not 30 minutes into the trip. We tracked them for a great while, until heading home (though we did swing wide in hopes of finding dolphin which – alas – did not make an appearance today). Overall, a solid day.
Naturalist Isaiah