Electrifying whale sightings in Monterey Bay (gallery)
Monterey whale sightings
Giancarlo Thomae / Sanctuary Cruises
A whale photographer on the beach appears to get swallowed
At the dock at Moss Landing, you could smell whale breath in the air. It was like a mix of fermented broccoli and rotten anchovies.
“They’re here and they’re close,” said Giancarlo Thomae, a marine biologist and my kayak partner for the day, as we pushed our kayak from the dock at Elkhorn Slough.
It was warm and muggy, like a morning in the tropics. The air was thick with a high fog. We were paddling out to see giant humpback whales in Monterey Bay.
At the mouth of the harbor, we sighted whale spouts, which looked like little puffs of smoke rising from the sea, within a mile. A moment later, we saw a giant whale tail emerge.
“There’s at least 50 whales in Monterey Bay already and the season is just starting,” said Thomae, who has pioneered whale watching from a kayak out of Moss Landing and Capitola, and is a biologist for Sanctuary Cruises. “At peak season last year in late summer and fall, there were more than 200.
“In the past week, a mother and calf have come right into the harbor. People are watching from the jetty, in kayaks, (stand-up paddleboards), inflatables and on boats. Nobody can believe what they are seeing.”
The big humpbacks are the most social of all whales. When the boats, big and small, get within range — easy to locate by spouts, diving birds and acres of feeding sea lions — you simply stop paddling or turn off your engine: The humpbacks often swim right up to you and put on a show.
It’s like parting the curtains and getting a glimpse of a secret world. At close range, the big whales can spout, lunge feed, spy hop, wave at you with a fluke or tail salute, or give you the big show with a full breach, pirouette and crash into the calm sea.
On the gentle paddle out to the harbor mouth, we saw about 50 harbor seals, 100 sea lions and a dozen sea otters, including one that swam right up alongside, and then a moment later, an estimated 50,000 terns swirled overhead. Earlier in the week, a cloud of sooty shearwaters extended for four miles along the shore of Monterey Bay.
As we hit the open water, millions of anchovies schooled for miles around us and straight ahead on the edge of the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon. Many of the baitfish were just 1 to 4 inches, so many, that at times, the calm surface look dimpled like a golf ball. At other times, small pools from anchovies flicking the surface made it look like rain drops.
The anchovies and other marine feed have lured sea creatures from across the ocean to feast in Monterey Bay. In the past 10 days, it’s become one of the richest marine regions in the world.
Trips have ventured here from Santa Cruz to Monterey, but the closest launch point is Moss Landing. The Submarine Canyon starts 100 feet outside the Moss Landing Harbor, and then just a mile offshore, plunges to 800 feet deep; within a few miles, to 1,400 feet deep.
Offshore, west-bound currents hit the edge of the Submarine Canyon, and as it narrows near shore, deep, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface. The upwelling ignites the marine food chain, from tiny plankton to krill, anchovies, squid, herring, sardines and other feed, and then is crowned by the giant humpback whales that are feasting on anchovy riches. The whales dive, their tails often high in the air to help propel them to the depths, and then after an underwater loop, rocket to the surface and lunge feed through the small anchovies.
The scene is so electric that Michael Sack, co-owner and captain of Sanctuary Cruises, spent his day off last Sunday to see the whales from his surfboard.
“I was surfing off the South Jetty (outside Moss Landing Harbor) and the ocean flattened out and then a few whales suddenly showed up 50 yards away,” Sack said. “Some pelicans started diving, and next thing I know, this mass of anchovies, about eight-foot diameter, were on the surface right next to me.
“Two, three seconds later, this giant wide-open mouth of a humpback whale came up 20 yards from me. The mouth was five feet open. The whale came out of the water 10 feet high, right next to me. I couldn’t believe it.”
As news of the whales circulated this past week, Dave Grigsby, owner of Kayak Connection at Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, said he rented nearly all 100 of his kayaks for all daylight hours by advance reservation for the weekend. He, too, finds the show irresistible.
“On Monday, my family (wife Jess and daughters Samantha and Gwen) went out in tandem kayaks inside the mouth of the harbor,” Grigsby said. “Suddenly, thousands of anchovies were teeming all around us. My daughter Gwen started yelling, and then two seconds later, a mother humpback whale erupted out of the water 15 feet away.
“Gwen really started screaming,” he said with a grin. “Then the calf came up right between our kayaks and its mother, right next to us. None of us could believe it. Every hair on my body was standing on end.”
Ten humpback whales swam circles around boaters whale watching in Monterey Bay, California.
You can see the show by driving to Moss Landing and walking out on the North Jetty, which provides a good view of the harbor entrance and inshore coast out to the canyon. For a more formal presentation, whale watching trips with naturalists are available on large charter boats out of Moss Landing, Santa Cruz and Monterey.
You can rent a kayak or bring your own and paddle the flat water to the harbor entrance. Those who rent kayaks are not permitted outside the harbor into the open sea, except on guided trips with professionals; you can need pro-level expertise to deal with the breaking surf at the mouth of the jetty, and reading wind and swells.
The big humpback whale show started three years ago in late summer and lasted into fall. Last year, the whales moved within two miles of the harbor, and in October, often closer just off Moss Landing and Capitola near Santa Cruz.
“Here it is the start of August, and it’s already full on,” Thomae said. “They’re even closer to shore than last year and more are arriving every week.”
As we paddled out, I dipped a hand into the sea, where little anchovies darted around just under the surface. I was stunned at how warm the water felt, another harbinger that an El Niño is taking shape on the Pacific Coast. “It was 68 degrees at the Monterey Weather Buoy, 10 miles out,” Thomae said. “For Aug. 1, it’s usually like 59, 60 here.”
For those coming to watch the whales, polarized sunglasses are a good way to cut the ocean glare. In addition, a wet suit and personal floatation device are necessities in a kayak on the ocean. With temperatures in 60s, and muggy this past week from tropical flow, wear shorts, Under Armour, sandals and a wide-brimmed hat.
Sea kayaks are stable yet sleek, allowing users to propel themselves forward quickly with each paddle stroke. In a half hour on the open ocean, as we ventured toward the spouts and tail sightings, we were above the southern edge of the Submarine Canyon. At one point, the water was 1,200 feet directly beneath our small boats.
In the span of a minute, an acre of sea lions, amid a massive school of anchovies, swirled directly ahead of us. About 75 yards to our left, a whale spout shot 15 feet into the sky, and a moment later, the whale’s tail rose high into the sky. Again, you could smell whale breath.
“Stop paddling,” Thomae shouted, “Watch what happens next.”
As we floated, the sound of a whale exhaling, a loud, sustained whoosh, broke the silence. Whale breath enveloped us. To our left, 20 yards off, a giant humpback whale, 50 feet and 40 tons, emerged on the surface. The whale seemed to look at us for a moment, then gave us a fluke salute.
A moment later there was another whale, which did the same. The spray of its blowhole nearly hit us.
“They come right up,” Thomae shouted again. “Wildlife ethics say you can’t do anything to change their behavior. You have to keep a respectful distance. They are playful, curious animals and they can be fascinated with us. They are the size of a Greyhound bus and they swim right up. It’s incredible.”
In the next two hours, we sighted more than a dozen whales, saw 100 tails, hundreds more spouts, and moments where the backs of whales emerged high above the sea surface nearby. In a dozen encounters, the whales chose to circle in an arc just ahead of us.
Then, just off to our left, one of the humpbacks rocketed out of the water at 45 degrees, cleared the sea in a full breech and then landed with a giant crash. In the wake, the sea foamed bright white.
People pay thousands of dollars for whale encounters along Alaska’s Inland Passage or Mexico’s whale breeding grounds. Yet here at Moss Landing, you might have the same experience for roughly the price of a dinner at a restaurant.
As we paddled back to the harbor, an easy trip with an incoming tide and the Moss Landing power plant towers onshore guiding the way, I asked Thomae how long these humpback encounters could continue.
“As long as there is food to eat, the whales will stay here,” he said. “The best is yet to come, in late summer.”
Last year, peak sightings were from mid-September to mid-October. And mother humpback whales and their calves stayed in Monterey Bay into early December.
“Many biologists believe so many are also being sighted because there is a significant increase in the population of humpback whales across the Pacific,” Thomae said. “Their population is coming back, big-time. With such a rich marine food chain set off by the Monterey Submarine Canyon, we think it is possible that humpback whales could stay in Monterey Bay year-round.”
As we docked our kayaks at the harbor, Thomae smiled and remarked, “I can’t think of anywhere else in the world I would rather be than right here for the next three months.”
Tom Stienstra is the Chronicle’s outdoor writer. Daily twitter at: @StienstraTom. E-mail at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.
Safety & ethics
- Safety: Do not venture into the open ocean in a kayak or any boat from Moss Landing unless you are expert paddler with a seaworthy craft, or with a professional local guide to keep you safe. Though calm this past week, the mouth of Moss Landing Harbor can turn treacherous; an outgoing tide and an onshore wind can create large standing waves that can swamp small boats.
- Ethics: Your behavior cannot influence the behavior of wildlife you hope to view. In the vicinity of whales, most easily found by whale spouts, feeding and hovering birds, and masses of sea lions, allow your craft to float motionless (turn your engine off, whether hand-powered or gas-powered), and the humpbacks often choose to swim nearby within close range.
If you want to go
- Whale watching boats: Sanctuary Cruises, Moss Landing, (831) 917-1042, www.
sanctuarycruises.com; Monterey Bay Whale Watch, Monterey, (831) 375-4658, www. montereybaywhalewatch.com; Santa Cruz Whale Watching, Santa Cruz, (831) 427-0230,www.santacruzwhalewatching.com ; Princess Monterey, Monterey, (831) 373-2203,www.montereywhalewatching.com; Fast Raft, Monterey, (800) 979-3370,www.FastRaft.com. - Kayak rentals: Kayak Connection, Moss Landing (also a Santa Cruz location), (831) 724-5692, www.kayakconnection.
com; Monterey Bay Kayaks, Moss Landing (also a Montery location) (831) 373-5357, www.montereybaykayaks.com; Blue Water Ventures,(831) 345-2417,www. bluewaterventures.org; Venture Quest Kayaking, (831) 425-8445,www.kayaksantacruz. com; Blue Ocean Whale Watching, (831) 600-5103,www.blueoceanwhalewatch.com. - SUP rentals/whale tours: Sup Shack, (831) 428-2378, www.
supshacksantacruz.com. - Whale photography: Giancarlo Thomae, kayakwhalewatching@gmail.com.
- San Francisco: Oceanic Society, (415) 256-9604, www.oceanicsociety.
org.
