Is there such a thing as Super Cetacean..Tuesday?! That’s what we experienced today! The wildlife was in surplus throughout both of our trips and we thoroughly enjoyed the variety. We started the day off with a feeding frenzy of Common Dolphins, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins and California Sea Lions! We decided to stay close to the surf line and joined up with two southbound Gray Whales that rolled around together and showed some exciting surface behavior with the company of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins! We spotted another single Gray Whale headed south and an elusive cow-calf pair of Gray Whales that zigzagged beside us. On the way home, we cruised through another feeding frenzy of ~80 Common Dolphins and a handful of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins! The entire trip was filled with NON-STOP cetacean action.
Our afternoon trip started abruptly with a BREACHING southbound Gray Whale! It breached 4 times before our eyes and circled the boat numerous times for some close looks! Even when we tried to peel off in search of more wildlife, the juvenile Gray Whale popped up right in front of us, cutting us off. We eventually cleared the boat-friendly whale and found a mix of ~50 Common Dolphins and ~20 Pacific White-Sided Dolphins feeding alongside seabirds and Sea Lions.
The storm has finally passed and it appears that we experienced the last of it this afternoon. According to the forecast, we should see clear skies and a calm ocean for the rest of the week. See you out there, whale watchers!
January 22, 2019
