September 15, 2009
On September 20th, what was meant to be a pelagic seabird expedition turned into the best whale watching trip I've ever been on. For more than 30 minutes a pod of five Orcas (Killer Whales) circled, swam under and rubbed up against our boat in the Monterey Bay. One adult male, two females, one subadult male and a calf vocalized, showed off a prey animal (probably a California Sea Lion) they had just killed, and even splashed some of us on the boat with a few playful tail slaps.
Dolphins (and the Killer Whale is the largest of the dolphins) often ride the bows of boats, so it isn't unheard of to have close encounters with Killer Whales. However, it is unusual to have Killer Whales hold up their prey for humans to see, to vocalize at the side of a boat and to rub up against the boat. The captain of our boat said he had never seen anything like this in the 35 years that he has been a skipper on the Monterey Bay.
This incredible encounter ended when we left the area for the next phase of our trip; as we were leaving the male performed a series of four breaches (jumping completely out of the water) - it was as if he was asking us to stay and watch them play.
While this was the most dramatic encounter with marine mammals on this trip, it wasn't the only one. One hour before meeting the pod of Killer Whales, a school of 125 Risso's Dolphins surrounded our boat, while they performed acrobatics. Risso's dolphins generally do not approach boats, so this was an unusual encounter. These dolphins eat squid, and almost every one of them bear the scars that result from battling squid.
And finally, in the spectacular marine mammal department, an hour after leaving the Killer Whales, three Blue Whales (of the five seen on this trip) swam parallel to our boat. One of these enormous animals (Blue Whales are bigger than any dinosaur that ever lived) showed their flukes (tails) twice while swimming past our boat.
Other marine mammals that we were able to see on this trip included one male Elephant Seal (sleeping with its head sticking straight up out of the water), 3 Pacific White Sided Dolphins, 7 Dall's Porpoises (the fastest of the small cetaceans, and the only deep sea porpoise), 5 Harbor Porpoises, 2 Northern Fur Seals, 3 Humpback Whales, and countless California Sea Lions as well as a number of Sea Otters.
Even though the marine mammals stole the show, we did manage to see more than 1,000 seabirds on this trip as well. Half of them were Sooty Shearwaters, a plain looking brown, but exquisitely graceful bird that glides across the ocean mere inches above the waves (hence the name Shearwater). Four other species of Shearwater (Buller's, Black-Vented, Pink-Footed and Flesh-Footed), all with slightly more interesting plumage than the Sooty Shearwaters, were also spotted on the trip.
From a plumage perspective, the Rhinoceros Auklet, a close relative of the Puffin that can dive up to 187 feet, was, for me, the most interesting bird. In breeding plumage it has an orange bill, a horn on its beak (hence the Rhinoceros part of its name), white whiskers and a tuft.
Most seabirds, however, have relatively plain plumage, but exquisite names. The following, all seen on this trip, were various shades of brown, black and white - Northern Fulmar, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Red-necked Phalarope, South Polar Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger and Cassin's Auklet.
A few land birds surprised us by flying directly over the boat, including three raptors - two Merlins and a Peregrine Falcon.
If you're interested in taking a trip into the Monterey Bay, there are a number of companies operating out of Fisherman's Wharf, with most offering three hour whale watching trips. I prefer the 8 hour seabird trip offered by Monterey Seabirds, which runs about 10 times a year (that's the trip I just described). And if you do take a trip, I highly recommend stopping at Moss Landing Beach on the way, which is the best place to see Sea Otters close up, as they float by close to shore. There were at least 30 there when I stopped, along with hundreds of shorebirds and terns.