11-26-21 9am/1:30pm “Some of the Best Whale Watching I’ve Done”
It was nice having big holiday crowds today aboard the New Horizon and Pacifica. After giving our passengers our safety speech and rundown of the trip, we boarded the boats and took off. The weather was nice and sunny with a slight land breeze from the northwest that tapered off throughout the trip. Finding our first whales was all thanks to Captain Rod on the New Horizon. He’d spotted a pod of 4 active humpback whales! The Pacifica soon joined in to observe the action. We saw one of these whales do a big tail throw which is always nice! After a couple surfacings from this pod, 2 of them started becoming docile and approached the Pacifica. Captain Danny shut off the engines so the whales would feel comfortable around the boat and we waited as they approached. The next…
11-22-21 9am/1:30 “Great Sightings of Killer Whales!”
We started both the morning and afternoon trips this Monday with a twelve mile run up to the middle of the bay. We were rewarded with great sighting of the killer whales Fat-fin and Tofino, though the pair made us work for each look as they darted back and forth a few miles off shore from Moss Landing. After checking Orcas off our list, Captain Danny got us on Humpbacks with some feeding activity on the first trip and competitive behavior with three males on our second tour. And in the same fashion that our trips had already mirrored each other, both trips were greeted by a Maternity pod of roughly twenty Risso’s Dolphins within a mile of Monterey Harbor. Though our whale watching adventures took us far from home, the cruise could not have been more pleasant. The morning’s…
Sun 11/20/21 9am/1:30pm ” Unexpected & rare sighting…Fin Whales!”
On yet another beautiful day, Captain Rod took us out west to the canyon’s edge, where we stumbled into an unexpected (and rare) sighting: Fin Whales, and two of them. The second largest animal in Earth’s history gave us some good looks before we went exploring and found some Risso’s Dolphin to cap out the trip. The second trip consisted of entirely humpback whales – some 8 in all – and was graced with a magnificent breach from a nearby individual. -Naturalist Isaiah The day dawned sunny and breezy with wisps of low fog moving across the sky. The sea had gotten a little more agitated since the day before with small white caps and some northwest swell. Both the Pacifica and New Horizon pushed out west of the point, the Pacifica going southwest, and the New Horizon going west….
11/18/21 9am “Double Breach, Nursery Pod, Megapod of Northern Right Whale Dolphins!”
After a week of climbing up Yosemite’s El Capitan, I seriously could not have expected a more phenomenal “welcome back trip.” Flat seas, – glassy calm and windless – made it all too easy to find our first group of humpback whales (three in all). During some solid looks, we got a double breach from…
11-17-21 9am “Several Side Lunges as the Whales Gobbled up Mouthfuls of Tasty Anchovies”
Warm sun, chilled air, and a slight land breeze made for pleasant conditions this morning aboard the Pacifica. The first hour and 10 minutes of the trip was a pleasant boat ride, but hardly any marine mammals were to be seen. We saw a few harbor porpoises that surfaced once before doing their characteristic dive and disappear. After an hour and 10 minutes, Captain JJ spotted our first blows of the trip. Just off the southside of the submarine canyon, about 3 miles west of Moss Landing, there were 3 humpback whales spouting. It looked at first like there may be some feeding activity going on, but soon after we arrived the activity seemed to slow. The trio began making their way toward shore, and we followed, soon after we saw more spouts! The trio lead us to another 4…
Sat/Sun 11/13 & 11/14 “The Oohs & Ahhs From our Passengers Never Gets Old”
Weekend with whales we know all too well… Summer and Fall season in Monterey Bay bring in hundreds of Humpback Whales to the area and there are some that stick with us over the course of the season. Memorable ones, so to say. On Saturday afternoon we encountered “Fluke Skywalker.” This humpback whale calf lets her presence be known. Tail-throwing, breaching, and friendly encounters are common with this young whale while her mom, Aurora is seen lunge feeding nearby. Saturday afternoon trip started off the same, Captain Danny sighted young skywalker breaching and we approached carefully. We knew her mom was around but didn’t quite know her location. Moments later, Aurora made her presence known and breached 100 yards off the front of the Pacifica. Full body twist from a 40 ton animal. Incredible. On Sunday’s trip, our boat had…
11/12/21″Orcas, and Lots of Them (About 100 Offshore Orcas-very rare sighting!)”
Both the New Horizon and Pacifica left this morning at 9 sharp for the morning tours. We had calm seas, warm fall sun, and a bit of northeast wind. The Pacifica moved northwest for about 15 minutes before seeing a few spouts in the distance. We approached them as they dove and waited. Then we waited some more. This pair stayed down for close to 10 minutes before resurfacing to the north. We gave them another dive, but gave up on them soon after as they were long winded (long breath holders). Soon after, we found another pair of more cooperative humpbacks. Nearly as soon as we stopped on these, Captain Danny got word of a rare sighting to the north, so we wrapped up and took off. A half hour later, about 5 miles west of Moss Landing, we…
11/10/21 9am Whale Watch “Started Off Sunny and Calm”
Wednesday morning’s whale watch started off sunny and calm. The Pacifica exited Monterey harbor with George the deckhand, Fredo the naturalist, and Captain Danny. Almost as soon as we exited the harbor we came across our first whale! It was a single humpback whale calf, and an active one. We watched it chin slap twice, then do a small breach. This calf did look to be under a year old, but it had parted from its mother, most likely within the last month. We stayed with it a while, following it toward shore then along the coast off Cannery Row. The next 2 hours was a long hard search for whales in the fog banks that we ran into further out to sea. We did see harbor porpoises and California sea lions break the surface from time to time, but…
11/7/21 9am Whale Watch “Daylight Savings Ended with a Bang!”
Daylight savings ended with a bang this year, as large swells led us offshore, with Captain Rod at the Helm, to find the famous humpback whales Fluke Skywalker, and her mother, Aurora. We watched them for a good while before heading out west, to find a true megapod of Pacific White Sided Dolphin. Easily numbering over 2,000, they also had friends: several hundred Northern Right Whale Dolphin. As usual, the dolphin really stole the show, with breaches, backflips and bowrides. As if on schedule, a fearsome wind picked up just as it was time to make our way home, which we did with a beautiful following sea. One and done, as we say! -Naturalist Isaiah
11/6/21 9am/1:30 Whale Watch “Risso’s, Pacific White Sides, Northern Right Whale Dolphins, & Mega-Breaching Humpbacks!”
After several days of big swells, today’s calm was a pleasant surprise, as Captain Rod took the Pacifica out west. Once we hit the edge of the Monterey Submarine Canyon, we found a massive group of roughly 600 Risso’s Dolphin, with about 200 Pacific White Sided Dolphin and a handful of Northern Right Whale Dolphin. We watched them for a long time, as it was so hard to leave (they all gave us such great looks), but eventually we made our way north, to find several groups of humpback whale (8 in all). Our second trip lacked the dolphin, but made up for it with a pair of mega-breaching humpback whales. Breach after breach, our high flying humpbacks put on quite the show for the entirety of the trip, until the wind picked up and sloppy seas sent us home…
11/4/21 9am Whale Watch “Moderate Feeding Frenzies”
Large, yet smooth and rolling swells swayed back and forth beneath the Pacifica as Captain Rod took her out to the north. Very early on, we sighted a small pod of Risso’s Dolphin. Under partially cloudy skies, and the low-hanging winter sun, our customers enjoyed some very beautiful lighting on the animals. Pressing on, we nearly immediately found a pair of humpback whales which we watched for a nice long time. Eventually they grouped up with a large raft of sea lions, making for some moderate feeding frenzies until another group of three humpbacks swam by. Afterwards, we ventured out west out to water as deep 7,000 feet deep. Though no more animals were found, our passengers enjoyed some beautiful coastal scenery until we finally found ourselves back in Monterey Harbor. -Naturalist Isaiah
11/3/21 9am Whale Watch “2 Humpbacks & 25 Risso’s Dolphins”
Our whale watch had a rough start aboard the Pacifica with Captain JJ, and Fredo as our crew. We had thick fog banks that made visibility difficult, forcing us to run for about two hours before spotting our first whales. We came across a pair of full grown southbound humpback whales. As we approached, one of them gave a big tail throw making the passengers cheer and throw up their cameras. We followed alongside this pair for a good while as they took their breaths, dove for a few minutes, and repeated. By this point we were a good distance west of the Monterey Peninsula, and our passengers were eager to find other wildlife with our remaining time. Captain JJ pointed us in toward land, and once again we began our search for marine mammals. Just a quarter mile outside…