Greg Hoberg and I took two friends out whale watching on the morning of Tuesday Sept 10. We had flat seas so we could run fast from Monterey Coast Guard jetty launch up to Moss Landing. Over the Monterey Canyon just off of Moss Landing the whale, dolphin, sea lion, and sea bird action was intense. Currently there is a giant feeding frenzy on anchovies. We saw at least 60 to 100 humpback whales, feeding, breaching, slapping tail flukes, slapping pectorals, in every direction. Truly awesome. We also saw many Rizzo dolphins (which eat squid which were either eating the same krill the anchovies were eating or were also eating the anchovies..) and hundreds of sea lions which were frequently right with the humpbacks. If you want to see more beyond our pictures from this I recommend going to Monterey Bay Whale Watch's facebook page, it is excellent with daily postings of their whale (both blues and humpbacks right now), mola mola, and dolphin sightings.
After several breaths at the surface you frequently get a good view of the whale's tail as it dives deeper to feed on the anchovy below.
This whale kept up an amazing display of standing on its head and slapping its tail for maybe 5 minutes or so.
Humpback blows and sea lions.
The depthfinder showed the huge schools of anchovy below us.
For more whale photos, go to
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/5923523107416922001?authkey=CLX2o-fCx4_zpAE
Chase Reef Dive
After whale watching Greg and I dived a shallow part of Chase Reef (25-40 ft) just inside Pt Pinos. We had variable visibility of 15 to 25 ft and could enjoy the shallow dive because there was virtually no surge running for a change.
An amorous pair of Hopkin's Rose nudibranchs, about 2 inches long.
Friendly black and yellow rock fish was willing to pose for my macro lens close up.
Hilton's nudibranch.
For more pictures please go to :
https://plus.google.com/photos/110159573286645489662/albums/5923532108378434961?authkey=CKqdh-D5yJvHhgE
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