REPORT ON ACS WHALE WATCH CRUISE AUGUST 20, 2000
BLUE WHALE SEARCH -- AND SUCCESS
Orca approaching the Sea Wolf II during the ACS Cruise
Photo by Tom Kieckhefer
| Mammals: | |
| Female Sea otter with a small pup on her chest and a nearby raft of 8 were
in the kelp off the Plaza Hotel, Cannery Row. | |
| 200 California Sea lions were on the Coast Guard Breakwater, evidence for
the return migration of males from Southern California breeding sites. At
least one animal had fishing gear around its neck. | |
| Harbor seals showed their bobbing heads in the harbor and kelp beds beyond. | |
| A single Minke whale was close to the kelp near Point Pinos and was
exceptionally obliging for this hard to observe species. It was seen some
20 times as it surfaced and showed its sharply pointed rostrum and pale
flaring area sweeping over the flanks. It was 18-20 feet in length. | |
| We then headed north towards the Soquel Arm of the Monterey Canyon. Two Orcas were sighted ahead as they travelled
north, ignoring several California Sea lions sequestered in floating kelp
patches. Perhaps the Orcas were not hungry! We followed them for 30
minutes as Nancy Black secured photo-identification shots from both sides
of each individual. The two animals were identified by Nancy Black as CA 20 (male) and CA 54
(thought to be female). These animals were first photographed together on
October 26, 1987 in Monterey Bay and have since been photo-identified off
the Farallon Islands, the Olympic Peninsula and on August 6, 1989 were
seen in Glacier Bay, SE Alaska. This is the greatest distance known to
have been travelled by individual Orcas. (See Note.) | |
|
We left the Orcas when dolphins were sighted.
Approximately 75 Pacific White-sided dolphins, including several
mother/calf pairs, put on a marvelous performance bow-riding and were
highly visible in the calm, clear water, providing exceptional viewing. | |
|
Eventually the dolphins left us and we began to close in on the Blue whales which
were over the Submarine Canyon about 5 miles west of Moss Landing. The
whales, of which there were thought to be 5, were quite widely scattered and
actively feeding with little surface time. They were feeding on krill at a
depth of about 200 feet, shallow for the Blue whale, and were not throwing
their flukes upon diving, merely arching their backs and disappearing. One
animal a mile distant was seen fluking upon diving. We spent about 30
minutes with these animals before starting our run back to Monterey. | |
| The last cetacean sighting of the day was a group of 6 Dall's porpoise west of the
Salinas River mouth. | |
| Humpbacks were curious in their absence. | |
| Birds: 23 species observed. ** denotes notable species. | |
| ** | Black-footed albatross - 4 |
| Northern fulmar - 1 | |
| Pink-footed shearwater - 2 | |
| Sooty shearwater - abundant | |
| Ashy storm petrel - 30 | |
| ** | Fork-tailed storm petrel - 1 |
| Brown pelican - 200 (on Coast Guard Breakwater) | |
| ** | Red phalarope - 50 |
| Red-necked phalarope - 30 | |
| ** | Parasitic jaeger - 4 |
| ** | Sabine's gull - 20 |
| Elegant tern | |
| Common murre - males accompanying their single, still dependent, chicks. | |
| Pigeon guillemot | |
| Cassin's auklet - 20 | |
| Rhinoceros auklet - 10 | |
| ** | Tufted puffin - a single adult circled the boat several times. |
| Other marine life: | |
| Blue Shark - 4 | |
| Mola mola - zero | |
| Clear waters allowed good views of numerous jellies: | |
| Purple-striped jelly (Pelagia) | |
| Lion's mane or Egg-yolk jelly (Cyanea) | |
| Moon jelly (Aurelia) | |
Last updated September 9, 2000.