Gray Whale at the Farallones video by Pierre Lavagne; Shelltone Whale Project.
What a great time to take an SF Bay Whale Watching trip! Naturalist Melinda Nakagawa’s account of a recent trip: “We had great whale viewing conditions on Saturday July 4th. Weather: Calm seas almost like glass at times, not much of a swell, wind was about 5 knots, overcast skies, clearing in the afternoon.”
“At the start of our trip we all enjoyed watching several hundred Harbor Seals hauled out (laying out on rocks offshore) just beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, at Diablo Point. There was also a large mixed flock of about a thousand Clark's and Western Grebes here as well, some Brandt's Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, and a Black Oystercatcher.”
“We headed out toward the Farallon Islands, but stopped on the way to investigate some floating Bull Kelp. We discovered some neat critters living on the kelp including several large Kelp Isopods, tiny stalked barnacles (you can see them on the isopod, and kelp photos) and even tiny Kelp Crabs (Pugetttia sp.). We encountered Harbor Porpoises, Moon Jellies and Sea Nettle Jellies.”
“At Southeast Farallon Island, we spotted a Gray Whale- there have been about 5 of them at the island this summer. The island was full of life, as it is this time of year with all the breeding seabirds. This spring and summer, however the oceanic conditions have been unusual, and no Brandt's Cormorants bred on the island. This spring hundreds of adult cormorants have washed up dead on beaches from San Francisco to Monterey, seemingly due to starvation. Biologists are trying to work out what exactly happened to the animals and why they have died.” (Click here for more information from the Marine Mammal Center about what has been happening to these seabirds.)
“At the Farallones we spotted a Tufted Puffin along with Common Murres, Western Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklets, a few Brandt's and Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots, Cassin's Auklets, and Sooty Shearwaters. Here we saw all five of our pinniped species: Harbor Seals, California Sea Lions, Steller Sea Lons, Northern Fur Seals, and Northern Elephant Seals.”
“The water was calm enough to allow us to take the boat around West End (the seaward end of the island where water is often too rough for us to round) to view West End cove and the Great Arch. This edge habitat is a great place for large cetaceans, seabirds, and sea turtles. Today we were lucky to encounter about 12 Humpback Whales-- breaching and all! A few were in the distance, but most were in good viewing range, and a few even surfaced 20 meters from the boat! The sea was calm, so the Captain shut of the engines, and we floated alongside the whales, hearing their bursting exhales!”
“While everyone was taking in the magnificent whale viewing, a group of about 12-15 Pacific White-sided Dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obliquidens, or Lags for short) appeared and approached our boat. They hung out with us for the next hour or so swimming along side the boat, and criss-crossing the bow. Four Northern Right Whale Dolphins (Lissodelphis borealis) were traveling with the group as well. They are really elegant, black dolphins with no dorsal fin.”
“All in all a fabulous day of watching marine wildlife!! Can't wait to go out again, Melinda.”
Blog by Kathleen Jacques. Narrative by Melinda Nakagawa. Video by Pierre Lavagne. Photos by Melinda Nakagawa and Ed Estes.
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