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Old 18 Jul 15, 03:20 PM  
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4th, 26th and 60th - A California Road Trip - Day 6/1

4th, 26th and 60th - A California Road Trip - Day 6/1

Day 6/1 – 8th July 2015 – There be whales here OR
Sacre Blue, L’eau etait bon! - Part One


Today is an early start. We are doing a Whale watching morning from Monterey. The driving distance from Carmel by the Sea to Monterey is minutes as you diagonally cross the peninsula. The instructions are to head for the wharfs where there are 3 parking lots – A, B & C respectively. We see a sign saying “Fisherman’s Wharf” and head towards it. There is a huge “pub” – the London Bridge sporting the London Underground roundel (logo). That’s one they haven’t yet stop use of. (LU has a guy who goes around the world preventing unlicensed use of their precious roundel!) I digress.
So we park up in lot C. It’s $10 for the whole day up to 8p.m. then it’s free. Lot C is by Wharf 2. The problem now is that, parking ticket purchased, you can’t transfer to A or B. It says so on the back of the ticket. As a result we have to hoof it half way around Monterey Bay to get to Wharf 1. We may just as well have parked in San Jose! We do learn the history of place along the walk. Spanish invasion, setting up of Customs House and Mission Church etc., battle with the English I think and how it got its name. Monterey – King’s Mountain.





Ok – we reach Wharf 1 and eventually find the Monterey Bay Whale Watching Company.

I particularly chose this trip because they have a marine biologist on board and we are about to be really educated about cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Did you know dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphins? There are about 70 of us on-board but there is plenty of room for all. They have a galley where you can purchase coffee and snacks but what makes us laugh is that they also sell motion sickness tablets. The instruction given to all is if you do need to “feed the seagulls” then go to the stern of the ship to do it.
The other gag is that you can walk right up into the arc of the bow and do a “Titanic” picture by the rails but the guide tells you “You don’t have to do the ending!”



We set off out of the marina and into the Bay. As we depart we are greeted by honking sea lions.



Do you know the difference between a seal and a sea lion? The lions have ears and are related to dogs! These beasts manage to climb onto buoys, floating decks – whatever and even the breakwater. However, the cormorants nest on the breakwater and don’t like the wind. So they force the sea lions onto the windy side of the break. Next up there are sea otters. Look carefully - you'll see him lying on his back:



These “teddy bears” of the ocean are the size of medium dog. They lie on their backs and if hungry, collect clams etc. which they smash down on a flat pebble they carry on their stomachs. They have to eat quite a poundage of food to satisfy their appetites in a day. The rest of the time is spent sleeping – up to 18 hours a day. They wrap their feet in the sea kelp which grows below the surface of the sea and thus are anchored and don’t drift away. Their pelts are so thick that their skin never gets wet. Only their feet comes into contact with water.

We follow the coast past Point Lobos and eventually can see right into the Carmel Valley. As we are going along the guide points out some houses in the trees. A “brown one” is Clint Eastwood’s mansion. We move further out to sea and despite the overcast morning sky the ocean is calm and it’s a really pleasant sailing. To the south there is clear sky and we can see Point Sur – that’s where the Big Sur drive on Route 1 is.



We travel for about an hour and we see more sea otters. We are informed that it’s odd that they are so far out from shore. Normally, they tend to hang about a half to a full mile from the coastline.



Suddenly there is a spout of water and then another and another.



We have found Humpback whales. These giants of the deep are in a pod and there are about 8 or nine of them. They surface as they blow. Now then – another fact. That is not sea water that comes shooting out. It’s air! Because it is projected out at speed, the gases vapourise rather like steam and that’s why you can see them. They will then disappear down into the underwater channel which is some 2,500 to 3,000 feet deep below us. The longest breath holding by a humpback is close on an hour! They can do this because they have something in their blood that can hold onto extra molecules of oxygen. Another fact we learn is that whale mil for their young is as thick as cottage cheese and is about 53% fat. Human milk, by comparison is only 2 to 3%. A baby can put on up to 100 pounds a day! None of the whales breach – that’s when they leap up out of the water but they do come up to the surface and you witness some forty to fifty feet in length before that tail fluke gracefully descends beneath the waves.






The humpbacks have white marking on their flukes rather like our fingerprints and each is different. That’s how marine biologists can identify which whale is which. This trip is a real education. Another fact is that they eat krill – small organisms which are a red - pink in colour. As a result whale poop is red! I don’t want to start an argument but, for me and Darrin, this is how I want to see whales – not in some inadequately sized tank in a theme where it has to perform tricks. OK – off my soapbox.

The Captain informs us that there are blue whales out in the ocean which is unusual for the time of year. About twenty minutes of sailing and, sure enough, there they are. They are actually a silvery grey colour but sailors thought they looked blue and thus the name stuck. Again, they burst the surface with their spouts and ten a mass of body passes through the water. They tend not to flip their tails.





The kids on-board are amazed at what they are seeing and we adults aren’t far behind. I asked the biologist what the recommended distance away from the creatures was. He said that he had read many statutes issued by Government etc. but couldn’t find any set down measurement. The ruling is that they should not be hassled or corralled and that this company gives them a good couple of hundred yards. In doing so, the whale learn not to fear the boats and thus are happy to appear nearby. Sometimes they will surface right next to a boat but not today.

You have to remember that man hunted these whales almost to extinction. Thank Heaven that is a thing of the past (apart from one or two countries) and thus numbers have slowly increased. There are no Orcas today (Killer Whales – a term I detest). They have migrated north and won’t be seen back down here until autumn time as they move south.

We now go in search of dolphins. We find a pod of Risso’s dolphins. They are a milky white below their bodies and not unlike Beluga whales.






Their dorsal fins though are quite pointed and from a distance could be mistaken for sharks. These chaps are really playful and they do put on a show of their own making. When 3 jump together in synchronisation everybody whoops with joy! They really play with us. One minute they are on the port (left side) of our vessel, the next they have shot underneath only to appear on the starboard side (right).



Everywhere on the ocean surface are pink footed Shearwaters.
These birds once contracted a toxic fungus from an algae and would career with a splat into trees and buildings on land. The toxins affected their navigation systems. Alfred Hitchcock would later incorporate this behaviour into his famous film “The Birds” based on the Daphne Du Maurier book of the same name.

A kid has been selected by the biologist to tote around what looks like something off a palm tree. It turns out to be a whale’s tooth. It’s long, greyish and about half a centimetre thick with orange-y strands on its edges. These strands filter out the krill from the water.



Next up is a model of a dolphin’s skull. Whilst it has two nostrils it only has one blowhole. The other nostril is connected to an echo chamber which runs the length of the dolphin’s nose and this is how they create those shrieks and squeals that can be detected up to five miles away.

We have been at sea for over four hours and Darrin and I have enjoyed every minute of it. The sky has brightened (as my head will testify later). All too soon we are heading back to Monterey marina. For $48 a head this has been excellent value and we have learned so much about these creatures of the deep.


As we arrive back on shore fishermen are gutting and filleting fish they have caught on their trips this morning. The kids are wrinkling up their noses and some parents are “oohing” at the site. I remark that it’s good they should know where our food comes from. And talking of food……




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Edited at 03:38 PM.
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Old 18 Jul 15, 04:09 PM  
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Lovely pictures! I'd love to do a whale watching tour!
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Old 18 Jul 15, 04:13 PM  
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I bet it was fabulous to see these magnificent creatures in their own environment.
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Old 18 Jul 15, 04:23 PM  
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Fantastic Geoff, what a wonderful trip. We loved seeing the little sea otters at Monteray and so happy for you that you got to see blue whales too, an unforgettable experience
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Old 18 Jul 15, 05:51 PM  
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What a great experience and very educational-Thanks Geoff
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Old 18 Jul 15, 05:53 PM  
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What a good price for such an informative and lovely trip. And to have an expert onboard instead of just a crew member with a script makes it really special.
I've learnt a lot reading this report! So much I didn't know about the sea life you were lucky enough to see.
I wouldn't want to be doing this trip on a rough sea day though
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Old 18 Jul 15, 06:50 PM  
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We did this trip to and you've brought back some wonderful memories. We saw the blue whales too - felt it such a bonus to see such amazing creatures. Love the Risso's dolphins. We also saw an albatross - huge!

You're right - can never think of seeing them in tanks.
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Old 18 Jul 15, 08:09 PM  
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Stunning photos Geoff, some spectacular shots. Pussycat
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Old 18 Jul 15, 08:15 PM  
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My parents are currently very jealous of you Geoff, they've booked whale watching tours twice and both times they were cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather. Hope you and Darrin are having a good time
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Old 19 Jul 15, 04:43 AM  
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Credit for the photos goes to Darrin.
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