Monterey Bay: Whales' buffet a feast for eyes

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Sunday, July 25, 2010
(07-26) 10:58 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- In a blast of foam and spray, the body and flukes of a humpback whale surged upward from beneath the cold waters of Monterey Bay and vanished in an instant, without a trace on the heaving surface.

Then, off the starboard side of Sea Wolf II, two long, black shadows rose in the distance and cruised silently in single file across the fog-shrouded horizon, like ghostly submarines with their conning towers mysteriously missing. They were blue whales, the largest animals that have ever lived on this planet.

A whale's favorite food - the tiny shrimplike creatures called krill - is unexpectedly rich in Monterey Bay this summer, and its abundance has drawn record numbers of at least two whale species - the blue and the humpback - along with thousands of dolphins of many species.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/25/MN8K1EJ0U6.DTL

I've been whale watching out there in the past, but I'd never seen anything quite like that. Huge pods of dolphins, a dozen whales...it was nuts. I've been whale watching out of Monterey, SF, and several points along the Oregon coast, but I'd never seen that kind of activity before.

If you enjoy whale watching, GO NOW!

So incomprehensibly huge and beautiful. The best part was the ship's captain said "while blue whales are fantastic to spot, people usually end up enjoying humpbacks more because the blue whales don't do much in the way of acrobatics." No sooner had he said that when the blue whale rose up pretty high out of the water and ended up with a big tail slap. Not far from the boat at all. WOW! The captain turned to us and said "that almost never happens."

Very cool.

I went whalewatching off Massachusetts this spring, in one of the first trips of the season. The guide said it was the most outstanding trip she'd ever been on. We saw DOZENS of humpbacks, and near 200 Minke whales!

K & R :thumbsup: