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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment