Pacific White-Sided Dolphins Steal the Show

A breaching Humpback Whale, leaping up and out of the water seemingly for sheer joy, is a sight you'll never forget. But a breaching Humpback Whale surrounded by a leaping pod of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, now that takes your breath away! Naturalist Alisa Keenan, describes this very scene on a recent trip; phenomenal photos thanks to Chester Clark (wow Chet!)

"The further we ventured out into deeper water, the more wildlife appeared out of the blue to greet us. As we parted ways with our resident gray whale just outside of Maintop Bay on Southeast Farallon island, we were greeted with a large pod of Risso's dolphins, a rather large ocean sunfish, and several brightly colored tufted puffins."

"Further out towards the continental shelf, a magnificent black-footed albatross soared overhead, amongst the hoards of sooty shearwaters and porpoising California sea lions. The real treat was catching up with an enormous pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins, who cruised off of our bow wave for nearly an hour as we searched the horizon for whale blows."

"After tracking down a pair of humpbacks, we all saw something that I've not yet seen but always dreamed of witnessing: transiting humpback whales with Pacific white-sided dolphins frolicking off of their bow. Seeing these two very different cetacean species interacting was truly a delight."

"To top off an already wonderful trip, we encountered an excited humpback, who breached about four times in an impressive display of power and beauty. The pictures are incredible, as well as our experiences on the trip as a whole. Great weather, great wildlife sightings, and great people truly made this day unforgettable!"

Narration by Alisa Keenan. Photos by Chet Clark. Blog by Kathleen Jacques.

Four Blue Whales Sighted!

Senior Naturalist Carol Keiper narrates a spectacular recent Sunday trip. Lucky us, a terrific photographer, Joan Robins was on board to capture it all - special thanks to Joan! (www.joanrobins.com).


"Each adventure offshore always proves to be quite exciting! As we headed out under the Golden Gate Bridge we started our ocean adventure to the Farallon Islands with some spectacular sightings of dramatic plunge-diving brown pelicans! After capturing the fish they drain the water from their pouch, point their bill up and swallow the fish whole. Close by were Herrmann’s gulls and Western gulls waiting to steal some fish from the pelicans and several other surface divers, Brandt’s cormorants and common murres, and large flocks of Western grebes were also taking advantage of this patchy fish feast just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. "

"Next we started heading out to the Farallon Islands and about half way out, we were treated to one of nature’s most spectacular sightings – endangered blue whales! There were four blue whales, all about 70-80 ft, and changing direction frequenting (known as milling behavior) and Capt. Jim reported seeing krill on his depth sounder which indicated these whales were having a krill feast! Very tall blows (up to 30 ft!), very long backs, and then they also did some fluke-up dives which is rather rare for these whales, especially in relatively shallow water (<200ft)!"

"We had another exciting sighting when we arrived at the Southeast Farallon Islands! We saw thousands of nesting common murres on the very rocky slopes and cliffs. This is the time of the year when the adults and chicks will be getting ready to leave their nest site and start living on the ocean so they won’t be on the Farallones too much longer."




"Another whale sighting! This time we saw a seasonal resident gray whale very close to the shore near Saddle rock, and hopefully this juvenile was finding food because this is the time of the year when the large whales spend much of their time feeding in food-rich waters. Ocean conditions allowed us to circle the islands and cruise along the spectacular ocean carved north side and we headed further offshore towards the edge of the continental shelf where we found some breaching and fluke-up diving endangered humpback whales!"

"We also saw large flocks of Cassin’s auklets and half a dozen North Pacific Ocean wanderer, the Black-footed albatross! These masters of the wind did their dynamic soaring close to our boat and we were able to have a great view of their wing span which is over 6 ft! As we started heading back to the coast, our grand finale was sighting more blue whales! We were all so grateful about our timing, being in the right place at the right time, to witness the wonders of the marine environment. Marine birds and mammals are expert navigators and oceanographers, as well as amazing hunters that seek their shifting, very patchy prey resources across a seemingly faceless ocean. What a great pleasure to see the ocean in action!"

Narration by Naturalist Carol Keiper. Photos by Joan Robins. Blog by Kathleen Jacques.

Gray Whales On The Move

Our good friend Randall Finley was on board another SFBay Whale Watching trip this month, and is again generous in letting us showcase his terrific photos of Gray Whales, California and Steller Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, and thousands of Common Murres roosting on the Farallon Islands.


It's hard to imagine that Pacific ocean dwelling Gray Whales were nearly hunted to extinction. Yet that is exactly what happened to Atlantic ocean Grays. Whalers found Grays to be easy targets since they generally fed in shallow coastal waters.


Anecdotally, it was said that Grays learned to swim further from shore as a defense against predation from whalers. Since their comeback, it has been observed that Grays gradually began to feed closer to shore as in earlier times.


Randy's panorama of the Farallones, wearing their spring green colors.


Steller Sea Lions (or "Northern Sea Lions") are the big boys here - males can grow to 2,400 pounds! California Sea Lions top off at a dainty 860 pounds.


Harbor Seals, generally shy, will slip off the rocks into the water if approached.


Common Murres, whose eggs, gathered to feed throngs of hungry gold rush era miners, were the object of violent wars for the rights to gather and sell eggs from Farallon Island nests.


"Eggers" would climb up the steep Farallon cliffs and fill their shirts with gathered Murre eggs, then descend the slippery rock inclines while fending off poaching-minded gulls.


Upwards of a quarter of a million sea birds call the Farallones their seasonal breeding site. We at SFBay Whale Watching learned early on that our passengers were as interested in bird watching as in whale watching.



Photos by Randall Finley. Text by Kathleen Jacques.

Orcas are Back!

An Orca "spy-hopping" - having a bit of a look around! Trying to spot that famous bridge off in the background...?

It seems that every other winter, a pod of Orca's ("Killer Whales") is spotted outside the Golden Gate Bridge, somewhere near the Farallon Islands. We've seen both "transient" pods and "resident" pods - think traveling teams and home teams. Both pods enter our waters from somewhere else, either passing by on their normal vagabond feeding quest, or coming south of their home territory near Puget Sound.

Both pods enter our waters from somewhere else, either passing by on their normal vagabond feeding quest, or coming south of their home territory near Puget Sound. Usually, marine biologists are able to identify specific individuals and let us know who our visitors are and where they call home.

I'll always recall the first time I spotted those tall dorsal fins slicing through the water, and the thrill of realization that they swam less that 20 miles away from my office building in downtown San Francisco! Yesterday they were back.

Passenger Jennifer Hagerty describes her delight upon seeing the Orcas while aboard an SFBayWhaleWatching trip yesterday. She kindly provided the photos shown in this post. In addition to the Orca's, Jennifer photographed a couple of Gray Whales feeding, with the Farallon Islands in the background.

Jennifer tells her story: "Good Morning! First let me say, yesterday was AMAZING! I am still reliving the

trip in my head. I can not tell you how much I enjoyed the day, the weather, the crew and the whales! I know we had a lucky day in every aspect of weather, waves and whales, it was like all the stars lined up. Here are the pictures I told you I would send. The orca one turned out well too! I also added one of the orca on his back swimming and a few with the Golden Gate in the back. Again, a super day, top 10 ever in my life! Thank you so much again for a fantastic day!"

Photos and narration by Jennifer Hagerty. Text by Kathleen Jacques.

Blue Whales & Blue Angels

Last Saturday’s trip started beautifully with sunny skies and gorgeous views of the sun breaking over the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. As we set out on the water, we were greeted by shy harbor porpoises popping up here and there on our way out to Point Bonita. The clear blue skies gave us all a spectacular view of the beautiful Point Bonita Lighthouse as well as the usual harbor seals hauled out in Bonita Cove who were accompanied by a sprinkling of western grebes.

The seas were exceptionally calm, giving everyone a nice, smooth ride out into the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary. We stopped for awhile to watch two slowly cruising humpback whales. They came close enough to the boat so that we were able to hear them exhale, which is always an incredible experience. As they began to move farther away from the boat one of the humpbacks stuck out a huge pectoral fin and slapped down on the water as if to wave goodbye.

The excitement on board was mounting as the Farallon Islands appeared in the distance. Suddenly, Captain Jimmy veered the boat left at the sight of two enormous spouts erupting from the water. Passengers on board gasped as one of the blue whales launched itself out of the water, mouth agape, and came crashing back down with significant force. We were witnessing two blue whales in the process of “lunge feeding,” a rarely seen event, especially with the ever-elusive blues.

This process of lunging, turning and rolling lasted almost forty minutes and gave us spectacular views of pectoral fins, flukes and even their huge mouths and throat grooves. To see this animal out of the water is really the only way to grasp their gigantic size—blue whales can exceed 90 ft in length and weigh over 100 tons—and the speed with which they can move is breathtaking.

The recent spike in krill populations along the California coast can most likely explain this behavior as these whales feed almost exclusively on this tiny crustacean, consuming about 4 tons a day. Having an opportunity to see something like this is humbling. Historically, global blue whale populations were estimated to be around 300,000 until whaling reduced their numbers almost to extinction. Today, it is estimated that there are about 5,000-12,000 of the animals worldwide. Just getting a glimpse of a blue whale is amazing, but seeing them feeding and coming up out of the water is truly extraordinary.

When we finally arrived at the Farallones the islands were covered in dense low lying fog, but we were able to hear and definitely smell the presence of many sea lions. We idled for awhile in Fisherman’s Bay watching another boat where a few brave individuals suited up for great white shark cage diving. Through the fog we were able to catch glimpses of the islands and even a few shark researchers anchored in a sailboat.

We left the islands behind us and headed out towards San Francisco, pausing to watch some resting humpbacks and a few blue whales travelling at top speed. San Francisco was sunny and warm as we slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge and into a crowded mass of boats, from giant ships to canoes and kayaks, all waiting to watch the Blue Angels perform for Fleet Week.

(Note from photographer: this image is NOT upside-down. The Blue Angels are flying upside-down!) We idled for the length of the spectacular performance, a fantastic way to end our trip. Overall it was an amazing day for whale watching as the whales seemed to be everywhere. After talking to the passengers about the amazing things we had seen, from blue whales to Blue Angels, I think everyone understood that we had witnessed some incredible sights that day and we all departed contented and smiling.

Narration by Naturalist Amber Parmenter. File images of Blue Angels by photographer and blogger Kathleen Jacques. And a very special thank you to whale photographer and passenger Randall Finley.

White Shark Season- Sharktober

Each fall White Sharks return to the Marin shoreline and the Gulf of the Farallones. These apex predators are returning after an epic ocean voyage, the course and destination of which have only recently been discovered. We know from biologists stationed on the Farallon Islands that there is a local seasonal population of White Sharks at the islands. Photographs of fins identify specific individuals who return to the Farallones, some every two years, some every year.

As part of a long term observational and tagging study – the Shark Watch program- conducted by the Point Reyes National Bird Observatory, we know that the white sharks gather in the fall in the Gulf of the Farallones and off Ano Nuevo in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and then disappear a few months later. Where do they go? New satellite tracking data from Stanford’s TOPP program has revealed that each year the sharks leave the Sanctuary and gather at an area thousands of miles away off Hawaii at a location called The White Shark Café. A café is where we come to eat, linger, have a drink and maybe check out the opposite sex. “That’s probably what the sharks are doing,” says Stanford shark specialist Dr. Sal Jorgenson in Sean Aronsen’s documentary The White Shark Café. It makes sense...eating...breeding...

Now, thanks to satellite tracking, we know where the sharks are going, and we know where they return and when. The question is, why? Although sharing the waters of the Cafe’, genetics data is also revealing that the sharks of Guadalupe Island Mexico and the Ano Nuevo Group and Farallones Island population are probably distinct sub populations.

This July one of the earliest shark predation events at the Farallones was reported by the Shark Watch program consisting of biologists of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) program located on the island. Recently, a large white shark nuzzled the bow of a kayak off of Pigeon Point leaving a few teeth marks and a wide awake paddler. A skipper reported two very large sharks off Duxbury Reef and last week while we were on the opposite side of the Farallones, a white shark was observed feeding.

“Shark feeding on a Sea Lion in Fisherman’s bay!” The VHF radio crackled. The PRBO crew had witnessed a bright spot of blood, a struggling pinniped and then another hit as the shark claimed its victim. Not witnessed by our boat observing whales in Mirounga Bay or by the two cage diving operations anchored in the bay of East Landing, the event shows the randomness and good fortune one has to have to observe a white shark. A shadow in the water, a splash, a pool of bright red blood, or the occasional shark breach is what little we see or experience of sharks. With the tagging and genetic information we are gathering more insight to population size and dynamics. What this information is not telling us is how many white sharks are being caught on longlines or caught and finned illegally in their long passage across the ocean.

On one of the most fantastic days I have ever experienced on the Gulf, our SFBayWhaleWatching group spotted our first Humpback whales feeding mid-channel in calm sunny weather. The standard surface swimming, followed by predictable shallow dives gave us a view of the twin blow holes, humpy dorsal fin and knobby tail characteristic of this baleen whale. Further on, we were rewarded with two Blue whales lunge feeding, gasping, swimming and lurching forward, and later by more Humpbacks to the south of the island. Past the marine terrace, we entered Mirounga Bay, so called for the genus of Elephant Seal which is one of the white shark’s favorite meals.

Suddenly there is a splash, and then another and a huge white beast breaks the water. Nearby the ghostly shape of another lurks beneath the boat. Several passengers shriek as the shutters click away. Are they White sharks? No, we are surrounded by a huge school of Rizzo’s dolphins. Also known as Grampus, and considered by old sailors to be ghosts of drowned shipmates, these large blunt-headed whales are scarred and bleached over time. All around us the large Grampus swim and breach, including several young dolphins. Among the Grampus swam Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Common Dolphins. Captain Jimmy slowly steams through the middle of the pod and: whale ho! More Humpback whales feeding. We do not see a shark, but we know the sharks are here.

Sharktober. Local surfers call it Sharktober and when there is a shark sighting at Stinson Beach or Bolinas the news station and papers are quick to report it. When there is an attack, like that of a local surfer the press goes into a literal feeding frenzy. Like a recent newspaper article, reports are loaded with adjectives like “grisly death”, and “white sharks swarming”. What we don’t hear is the story: Man Bites Shark! For every shark attack on humans, there are hundreds of thousands of sharks killed each year, and every year.

We have a misconception of sharks extending from blind fear to the ironic but an ignorant symbol of a shark with a red slash though it seen on bumpers. Scientists have demonstrated that sharks play a vital role for a healthy ocean ecosystem. A new study has been published on the benefit of sharks on Caribbean reefs, further reinforcing the ecological importance of sharks. Sharks are the regulators of fish and marine mammals. They cull the weak and the sick, thereby strengthening the remaining population. The kill of a sea lion isn't a sad thing, it is a necessary event to help the population remain robust.

White Sharks are protected and the killing of sharks for fins is illegal in US waters. However, there are loopholes in our laws that allow some sharks to be finned and making the anti finning law difficult to enforce. We can protect our sharks in the Sanctuary, but little can be done when they enter international waters. Supporting our Sanctuaries, strengthening our existing regulations and stopping the consumption of shark products like shark fin soup can all help increase the protection of the pelagic sharks that visit our waters.

This October, Sea Stewards will be celebrating the shark with special shark awareness events including Farallones tours with San Francisco Bay Whale Watching, emphasizing the importance of sharks to the Bay and Sanctuary, as well as looking at the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of the Farallones from plankton to sharks.

Sea Stewards will be leading several expeditions including Oct 16^th with Leatherback Sea Turtle expert Dr. Chris Pincetech, October 24^th with Sherman’s Lagoon creator Jim Toomey, and culminating in a shark Halloween party on October 31^st. A percentage of the proceeds will go to Sea Stewards shark conservation and research program.

SFBay Whale Watching is donating a portion of it's "Sharktober" profits to SeaSteward's shark conservation and research program!"

Visit www.seastewards.org to find more information.

Photos and narration by David McGuire, Director SeaStewards.org. Blog by Kathleen Jacques.