April 29 2017

We had an afternoon trip today at 1:30pm. Our sightings included 8 Humpback Whales and 150 Long-beaked Common Dolphins! One of the Humpback Whales we saw has a significant amount of damage to the fluke from a previous entanglement in fishing gear. Luckily it survived the encounter with what appears to be full function of the fluke. You can see the picture attached with this report. Common Dolphins are still hanging around the bay despite cooling temperatures. There are a few warm water pockets near shore that may be keeping them interested in Monterey Bay but usually they start to shift back to the south as the upwelling season kicks off here. You are much more likely to encounter Common Dolphins in Southern California and Mexico, but the last El Nino cycle brought them to Monterey Bay almost full time.