Why the party in Monterey Bay? Last month, the anchovy
population exploded, drawing in marine life in unheard-of numbers. It’s a
feeding frenzy for the masses.
Even in the shelter of the harbor, marine life teems.
Otters, harbor seals and sea lions lounge and play along the docks and buoys.
Sea lions tend to amass along the breakwater of local harbors, a noisy, not to
mention smelly, send-off. I’ll admit that in that part of the harbor, I’m a
mouth-breather.
As we left the Monterey harbor and ventured closer to the
whale hot-spots, pods of Risso’s and Pacific White-sided dolphins began to
appear, and after a few minutes we were surrounded by a herd of more than 100
dolphins. Even more incredibly, 50-foot humpback whales started to surface.
But then we got the call. A neighboring whale watching boat had spotted Fat Fin, a favored killer whale. Because this black-and-white beauty is only seen every 2-3 weeks, we seized the opportunity and adjusted our boat, killer whale-bound. Each one has a huge dorsal fin, up to six feet tall, and that’s exactly what first caught our eye. After an hour of trailing His Majesty, we set back to find our humpback friends and were not disappointed.
We happened upon a cow and calf cruising to dinner. Full of
energy, this calf showed off for us with three spectacular breaches while its
mother casually swam alongside the boat. There’s not a whole lot to fear when
you weigh up to 45 tons, so the whales don’t mind getting pretty close—some
boats even get bumped. It was quite a spectacle, especially as the sun dipped
below the mountains, coloring the residual clouds brilliant shades of pink and
orange.
About to dock, we found an unexpected welcome-back party.
Well, less of a welcome-back party than a snoozing blob of sea lion, smack in
the middle of our disembark area. Needless to say, both parties were surprised
upon arrival.
At the end of the day, it's an ocean wide game of follow-the-leader, and the anchovies are #1.
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