Monterey Bay: Whales, Birds, and A Very Good Captain
Monterey Bay has been on my list for a while, and we decided my birthday was the right excuse to finally make it happen. We based ourselves in Monterey for a few days, which gave us time to enjoy the trip properly rather than rushing through it. The bay sits over one of the deepest underwater canyons on the Pacific coast, and that geography pulls up cold, nutrient-rich water that feeds everything from anchovies to Humpback whales. It is the kind of place where the ocean feels genuinely alive.
We included a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was worth every minute. But the real birthday plan was getting out on the water. We had booked a trip with Blue Ocean Whale Watch, and that ended up being an epic birthday gift!
The Whales
The first trip out was so good that we booked a second one while still on the boat and went back the next morning. That should tell you everything about how the day went.
Humpback Whales were the main event, and they delivered in a way I was not fully prepared for. The first trip featured a whole flock of whales (is that a thing?). A very large female was circling all around us, seemed to almost be chased by the several other smaller Humpbacks. The naturalist mentioned that the males will chase the females, and that seemed to be the case. This female just seemed to get a little tired of it and gave a big tail slap, then came directly us to our boat. She floated underneath us, completely still, for a few minutes, like she found a peaceful hiding place. We could just lean over the edge and see her so close, it was wild!
The second day was all about lunge feeding. This is something you see in videos and think is cool, but then it happens in real life and you realize you didn’t not know how cool it was at alll. A Humpback lunge feeding is all acceleration and size and open water pouring off a jaw the width of a car. We watched them work the anchovies for a long time, and I still can’t wait to see it again.
The Surprise of the Trip
I was not expecting to see Dall's Porpoises. For some reason, I knew about this animal and assumed that I would never see it, but liked it enough to have had a poster of it as a kid. Our captain seemed to key into something on the horizon that no one else could see, and set the boat straight in that direction. Expecting Humpbacks, when suddenly, a group of funny looking dolphins found the boat and started riding our bow wave. My brain went from “why are these dolphins black” to “omg omg omg”. They are fast and precise and seem genuinely interested in the boat, cutting back and forth just ahead of the hull. I stood at the bow and watched them and, I will be honest, I was in tears. There are moments with wildlife that just get you, and that was one of them.
Marine Life on the Water
Sea Otters were waiting for us right in the harbor before we even left the dock, wrapped in kelp and doing exactly what Sea Otters do, which is float on their backs and look like they have nowhere better to be. Risso's Dolphins appeared offshore, identifiable by the heavy white scarring that covers older individuals, each scar a record of a life spent at depth. California Sea Lions hauled out on the buoys and rocks, and a Pacific Harbor Seal surfaced near the boat with that characteristic round-headed calm that makes them look perpetually unbothered.
The jellies were fun, too. Golden Sea Nettles drifted past the hull in that deep amber color that looks almost too vivid to be real, and Egg Yolk Jellies appeared in the open water, soft and very egg-like.
Birds on the Bay
Monterey Bay is serious pelagic birding territory, and the boat put us in the middle of it. Sooty Shearwaters were everywhere, and I mean that literally. At one point the captain found a massive flock sitting on the water and drove right into the middle of them, not to intentionally scattered them, but mostly because the flock was so big that there was no way except through them. They lifted all around us in numbers I have never seen in one place, and I was just as happy a a bird nerd could be. I turned to look at the naturalist and captain to say “that was cool” and before I could say anything, they yelled “happy birthday”. It was crazy and perfect.
A Pink-footed Shearwaters moved through the flock of Sooties, larger and paler, and a bit less common than it’s Sooty friends. Common Murres sat on the water in tight groups, upright and serious looking, the kind of bird that seems to regard the ocean as a matter of business. Brandt's Cormorants flew low over the swells in long lines, and Elegant Terns worked the surface with that hovering, head-down focus and at times taking a big dive!
A Sabine's Gull was a treat, small and sharp-winged with that distinctive triangular wing pattern that made it look unlike the other gulls it was twirling around our boat with. At one point, a Parasitic Jaeger pushed through, scattering some of the other birds the way jaegers do, all aggression and speed. Eared Grebes in their dark winter plumage floated in a small group near the boat. Brown Pelicans cruised past from the harbor to out in the bay, and got especially numerous around the anchovy puddles the feeding Humpback were creating.
The Aquarium
Monterey Bay was everything I had expected it to be, but still was full of surprises. Two days on the water with Blue Ocean Whale Watch, lunge-feeding Humpbacks, Dall's Porpoises at the bow, and a boat captain who somehow made a flock of shearwaters feel like a birthday gift.
If you've done a whale watch out of Monterey, or spent time birding the bay, I'd love to hear what you found out there. This one is going to be hard to top!
