BLOG BY MONTEREY BAY WHALE WATCH

August has been a tremendous sighting month for both Humpback and Blue Whales! Large groups of both species of whales have been sighted on numerous days feeding on massive amounts of krill. Krill is a small shrimplike animal about a quarter inch long and is an important food source for many animals in the Bay,…

Members of L pod, part of the southern resident Killer Whale community that frequents the inland waters of Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington State and British Columbia during the summer, were sighted in Monterey Bay on March 13, 2003. Leon Oliver, captain of the Magnum Force, first spotted the whales…

Gray Whales are currently being sighted every day off Monterey as the southern migration nears its peak. Weather conditions have improved and lately days at sea have been warm and sunny. We have sighted dolphins on many trips including Long Beaked Common Dolphins, Risso’s Dolphins, Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, and Northern Right Whale Dolphins, sometimes in…

National Geographic Explorer Television Program focuses on Monterey Bay Whale Watch Marine Biologists Nancy Black and Richard Ternullo airing on MSNBC Sunday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET Repeats Saturday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET National Geographic EXPLORER premieres Secret Killers of Monterey on…

Summer in Monterey Bay begins the start of a new and productive season in the seas. Spring winds have created intense upwelling of cold nutrient-rich water and with the sun’s fuel, microscopic plants and animals flourish, providing abundant food for the larger animals of the Bay. Humpback Whales feed on tons of schooling anchovies, Blue…

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, an eight-part series and a co-production between the Discovery Channel and the BBC, aired January 27 and 28 from 9 to 11 p.m, with the final parts airing on May 5. The first part, “Ocean World“, contained one of the most spectacular wildlife events ever filmed. If you missed…

The first pod of Gray Whales was spotted passing Monterey Bay on December 8th by marine biologist Nancy Black of Monterey Bay Whale Watch. This marks the beginning of the spectacular annual migration of the Gray Whale. Monterey Bay is the best place along the coast to observe these magnificent mammals due to the deep…

Update: Blue whales arrived in good numbers in mid-July and are continuing to be seen daily as of late August. For the latest sightings see our Current Sightings Report. As the end of spring approaches, the upwelling season is in full swing. Afternoon winds drive the nutrients from the deep ocean up to the surface…

The northern migration of the Gray Whale has just begun. After spending the winter months off the west coast of Baja California in the protected lagoons where the Gray Whales mate and bear calves, some are now on their way back to their Alaskan feeding grounds. The first whales headed north are usually female whales…

As winter approaches, we look forward to the annual migration of the Gray Whale. These whales are now a success story, having recovered from near extinction. They are the first marine mammal ever to be removed from the endangered species list. As of early December, most of the Gray Whales have left their summer feeding…