Did a Killer Whale take a bite out of this Humpback Whale's tail?

What do you think? Sure looks like something tried to dine on this close-call Humpback. If the missing chunk of tail isn't clue enough, check out those teeth marks! My guess is that a Killer Whale (Orca) may have attacked this whale in a prior year as it migrated to its Arctic feeding grounds. Likely, it was a juvenile at the time and somehow its mother was able to shield it from an organized attack by “transient” Killer Whales.


Transients are just what the name implies, roving opportunists with no particular home base, who follow food sources across great distances. Unlike the “resident” pods of Killer Whales from Washington state and British Columbia who mostly eat fish, the transients prey on marine mammals including Gray Whales and Humpback Whales (generally vulnerable juveniles).

A few years ago The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the pod of transient Killer Whales that was picking off baby Gray Whales near Monterey Bay. It seems the transients consider Monterey Bay a stop on their tour - spring means whale meat followed by seal season in the summer. Last winter individuals from Washington’s resident pod came all the way down to the Farallones but surely these salmon eaters didn’t mistake a Humpback for a Coho. The third photo is another recently spotted example of a Humpback who may be another Killer Whale predation survivor.

Researchers identify individual Humpbacks through photo identification, gathering data on migration, population size, health, and human impact. A whale’s tail, or fluke, at 10 or more feet wide, and no two alike, is ideal as a photo ID. Cascadia Research of Olympia, Washington has been coordinating this effort. Their linked study also mentions entanglement and boat strikes as causes for some of the disfiguring irregularities they see in photo records of Humpbacks.


The perfect images of a whale fluke that we all admire have as much to do with the whales’ good luck as the photographers’.

Photos by Ed Estes. Text by Kathleen Jacques.

Back to Back - Sea Turtles and Whales

Humpbacks and a Leatherback. It’s been quite an exciting time these last couple of weeks out in the Gulf of the Farallones. Sightings of Humpback Whales have continued strong; we’ve been seeing multiple groups of 3 or 4 individuals on every trip. The big news last week was the sighting of a giant Leatherback Turtle - I missed that trip and don’t have a photo for you, but check out the link. Several of the passengers who’d seen it that day sent emails telling us how amazing it was. Hey, you never know, it could still be in the area, maybe he/she will swim past us again looking for a jellyfish lunch...



Here are trip reports from Naturalists Doreen Gurrola and David Wimpfheimer for the last couple of trips:

Naturalist - Doreen Gurrola:

Weather: >15 knot wind NW, 5-7’ swell. Overcast and patchy fog.
**Biggest Highlight: Leatherback sea turtle. This endangered species is a rare sighting. Location: Near N buoy off Bolinas and >10 miles from Southeast Farallon Islands. Animal Description: adult >5'. Behavior: Logging at the surface, shallow dives, remained in the area for over 30 minutes. Several humpbacks and sea lions in vicinity of leatherback, no jellies (their food) seen in area, but later lots of moon jellies and sea nettles at South East Farallon Island.


Other sightings: Humpback whales, 9-11 seen in groups of 1-3. near N buoy and pilot buoy. Some subsurface feeding and one breach. Harbor porpoise: 5+ seen near Pt. Bonita.
California sea lions: 100s (throughout day). Harbor seals: >50 (at coast and islands).
Elephant seals: 2-3 (near crane, Southeast Farallon Island). Steller sea lion: 2-3 (at Indian Head, Southeast Farallon Island). Northern fur seal: >20 (at Indian Head, Southeast Farallon Island).
Birds: 14 species. Sooty Shearwaters (100s), Brown Pelican, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Black Oyster Catcher, Western Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Cassin’s Auklet, Tufted Puffin, 2 Brown Boobies (at Sugarloaf ).



Naturalist - David Wimpfheimer:

Despite some windy conditions on the way out to the Farallon Islands we spent almost half an hour with two very cooperative Humpback Whales. While we visited the island we saw many seabirds including about 10 Tufted Puffins mostly on the top of the large rock known as Sugarloaf. The puffins breed there, so what was more surprising was the observation of two Brown Boobies. These are subtropical birds that breed in Mexico and other countries south to the equator. Whether these were the same two boobies that were here last year is unknown.

Other birds observed included: Sooty Shearwater, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Red-necked Phalarope and Elegant Tern. A lot of the morning wind had subsided and the return trip to SF was much smoother. We did see an additional 8-10 Humpback Whales. We had good views of the whales' flukes several times as they sounded.



Photos by Ed Estes and Kathleen Jacques. Text by Kathleen Jacques.

Sausalito, California - more than postcard pretty

Last year officials in Sausalito counted all the people who bicycled into town on a typical summer weekend and reported that the number was over 1,000, closer to 2,000 if my memory is correct. No mystery there. Cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge, swoop down the hill into Sausalito and you’re in one of the prettiest small towns in America.

Yet, beyond the shops for vacationers needing nothing, and the bike paths for the must love congestion set (to be fair, some of those shops sell ice cream(!), and the bike paths lead to all sorts of wonderful trails in the Marin Headlands and beyond), there is Richardson Bay, home to raptors, seabirds, shorebirds, fish, and marine mammals.

And just around the corner to the southwest of those Headlands, there lies the Pacific Ocean with its 50 ton whales, 20 feet long, eight feet wide great white sharks, 5,000 pound Steller Sea Lions, dolphins, seals, innumerable seabirds, I know you’re out there Leatherback Sea Turtle waiting for me to take your photo, etc.....and you get the idea that Sausalito is more, way more, than picture album quaint.

[THIS JUST IN: LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE SPOTTED 8/5/2007! I WASN'T ONBOARD! THEY SAID ITS BACK WAS BIGGER THAN THE BED OF A PICKUP TRUCK! A FREE TRIP FOR THE PASSENGER FROM TODAY'S TRIP WITH THE BEST LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE PHOTO (for this blog)- send it to vern@sfbaywhalewatching.com]


A few weeks ago our SFBay Whale Watching trip encountered some rough seas on the way to the Farallon Islands. Our Captain didn’t think the passengers were comfortable enduring the deepening swells and besides, they’d already seen some whales.

























It was early yet, so instead of heading back to port, he treated everyone to a tour of Sausalito and the wildlife of Richardson Bay. We were able to really explore the piers and inlets where egrets, cormorants and seals seemingly live unaware of all those tourists.


I thought you might be surprised at what else there is to find in Sausalito besides souvenir t-shirts.



Photos by Ed Estes and Kathleen Jacques. Text by Kathleen Jacques.