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OCTOBER 2023 MONTEREY BAY WHALE WATCH MARINE MAMMAL SIGHTINGS LIST

MARINE MAMMAL SIGHTINGS IN THE MONTEREY BAY REGION

Monterey Bay Whale Watch
List of Marine Mammal Sightings
in the Monterey Bay Region
October 2023
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Note — This list includes reported sightings from Monterey Bay Whale Watch trips. Unusual sightings of other marine animals such as Leatherback Sea Turtles and Basking Sharks are also listed, in addition to unusual seabirds such as Albatross and Brown Boobies. California Sea Lions are mentioned only if numbers or behavior are of interest. Harbor Seals and Southern Sea Otters, which are seen on all whale watching trips, are not included in the list.

These sightings are copyright protected and may not be used without permission from Nancy Black. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of this information is a violation of federal copyright law, and is subject to prosecution to the full extent of the law.

 

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   Killer Whale identifications by the California Killer Whale Project
Date # Type of Animal(s)
10/31 9 a.m. 22 Humpback Whales
1 Pacific White-sided Dolphin
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
2 Northern Right Whale Dolphins
10/30 9 a.m. 20 Humpback Whales (feeding)
12 Risso’s Dolphins
10/29 2:30 p.m. 6 Humpback Whales
300 Risso’s Dolphins
10/29 10 a.m. 25 Humpback Whales
10/29 9 a.m. 21 Humpback Whales (feeding, tail lobbing)
10/28 1:30 p.m. 38 Humpback Whales
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/28 9 a.m. 26 Humpback Whales
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/28 7:30 a.m. 61 Humpback Whales
Full Day 75 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
150 Short-beaked Common Dolphins
5 Harbor Porpoise
Black-footed Albatross
Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish)
10/27 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/26 9 a.m. 26 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
50 Risso’s Dolphins (including Casper)
10/25 9 a.m. 24 Humpback Whales
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
40 Risso’s Dolphins
many Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish)
10/24 9 a.m. 20 Humpback Whales
40 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
400 Risso’s Dolphins
10/23 9 a.m. 29 Humpback Whales (breaching, pec slapping, friendly)
10/23 8 a.m. 20 Humpback Whales
All Day 20 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
150 Risso’s Dolphins (including Casper)
10/22 10 a.m. 25 Humpback Whales (tail lobbing, pec slapping, breaching,
and a big competitive group of 10 whales!)
Cheeseman 150 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/22 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales (pec slapping, breaching)
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/22 7:30 a.m. 46 Humpback Whales (group lunge-feeding)
Pelagic seabird 100 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
750 Common Dolphins
20 Risso’s Dolphins
20 Northern Right Whale Dolphins
Fork-tailed Storm Petrel (rare)
Flesh-footed Shearwater
10/21 1:30 p.m. 14 Humpback Whales (breaching, tail lobbing, chin slapping)
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
5 Risso’s Dolphins (including Casper)
10/21 9 a.m. 24 Humpback Whales (feeding)
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/21 8 a.m. 19 Humpback Whales (4 friendly)
All Day 60 Risso’s Dolphins
10/20 2:30 p.m. 6 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/20 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
20 Risso’s Dolphins
10 Harbor Porpoise
10/19 10 a.m. 17 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/19 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales
250 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/18 9 a.m. 7 Humpback Whales (kelping, friendly)
50 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
350 Common Dolphins
300 Risso’s Dolphins
10/17 2:30 p.m. 9 Humpback Whales (lots of breaching)
10/17 9 a.m. 17 Humpback Whales
30 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/16 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales
150 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
300 Risso’s Dolphins
10/16 8 a.m. 21 Humpback Whales
All Day 230 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
150 Short-beaked Common Dolphins
600 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
300 Risso’s Dolphins
10/15 2:30 p.m. 6 Humpback Whales (breaching, friendly)
10/15 10 a.m. 6 Killer Whales (CA216C, CA216C1, and CA140Bs – hunting)
300 Common Dolphins
50 Risso’s Dolphins
10/15 9 a.m. 5 Humpback Whales
9 Killer Whales (CA216Cs, CA140Bs, and CA223s)
10/14 1:30 p.m. 12 Humpback Whales
200 Common Dolphins
35 Risso’s Dolphins
10/14 10 a.m. 5 Killer Whales (CA138s)
10/14 9 a.m. 12 Humpback Whales
5 Killer Whales (CA138s)
300 Common Dolphins
40 Risso’s Dolphins
10/14 8 a.m. 15 Humpback Whales
All Day 5 Killer Whales (CA138s)
15 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
600 Common Dolphins
250 Risso’s Dolphins
10/13 10 a.m. 15 Humpback Whales
Dolphin Project
Fundraiser		 300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/13 9 a.m. 21 Humpback Whales (breaching)
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/12 10 a.m. 25 Humpback Whales
Dolphin Project
Fundraiser		 60 Risso’s Dolphins
10/12 9 a.m. 22 Humpback Whales
30 Risso’s Dolphins
10/10 10 a.m. 14 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/10 9 a.m. 20 Humpback Whales (breaching)
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/9 1:30 p.m. 16 Humpback Whales
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
1 Shortfin Mako Shark
10/9 9 a.m. 20 Humpback Whales
1 Minke Whale
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/9 8 a.m. 15 Humpback Whales (lunge-feeding)
All Day 100 Pacific White-sided Dolphins
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
20 Risso’s Dolphins
15 Northern Right Whale Dolphins
6 Bottlenose Dolphins
10/8 2:30 p.m. 10 Humpback Whales (breaching, tail throwing)
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/8 10 a.m. 15 Humpback Whales (breaching, tail throwing)
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/8 9 a.m. 13 Humpback Whales (breaching)
100 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/7 1:30 p.m. 13 Humpback Whales
200 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
20 Risso’s Dolphins
10/7 10 a.m. 22 Humpback Whales
4 Fin Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/7 9 a.m. 3 Humpback Whales (breaching, pec slapping, head slapping)
4 Fin Whales
10/7 8 a.m. 13 Humpback Whales (breaching)
All Day 4 Fin Whales
150 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
150 Risso’s Dolphins
10/6 2:30 p.m. 1 Humpback Whale (chronic breaching)
10/6 10 a.m. 22 Humpback Whales
20 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
200 Risso’s Dolphins
10/6 9 a.m. 15 Humpback Whales
500 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
100 Risso’s Dolphins
10/5 9 a.m. 25 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/4 2:30 p.m. 14 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
10/4 9 a.m. 16 Humpback Whales
50 Risso’s Dolphins
10/2 2:30 p.m. 10 Humpback Whales
10/2 9 a.m. 25 Humpback Whales (feeding frenzy with constant
vertical lunge-feeding)
10 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
4 Harbor Porpoise
10/1 9 a.m. 14 Humpback Whales
300 Long-beaked Common Dolphins
Photos © 2023 Daniel Bianchetta

Humpback Whale rainblow photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale rainblow (October 30, 2023)

 

Pelican and full moon photo by daniel bianchetta

Brown Pelican and full moon (October 28, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale tail and Brandt's Cormorants photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale tail and Brandt’s Cormorants (October 28, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale named Snowy Owl photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale ‘Snowy Owl’ (October 27, 2023)

 

White Risso's Dolphin Casper photo by daniel bianchetta

White Risso’s Dolphin Casper (October 26, 2023)

 

Feeding frenzy with diving Brown Pelicans and Brandt's Cormorants photo by daniel bianchetta

Feeding frenzy with diving Brown Pelicans and Brandt’s Cormorants (October 24, 2023)

 

Breaching Humpback Whale photo by daniel bianchetta

Breaching Humpback Whale (October 23, 2023)

 

Southern Sea Otter mother and pup photo by daniel bianchetta

Southern Sea Otter mother and pup (October 23, 2023)

 

White Risso's Dolphin Casper photo by daniel bianchetta

White Risso’s Dolphin Casper (October 23, 2023)

 

California Sea Lion photo by daniel bianchetta

California Sea Lion (October 22, 2023)

 

Long-beaked Common Dolphin photo by daniel bianchetta

Long-beaked Common Dolphin (October 20, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale (October 19, 2023)

 

Long-beaked Common Dolphin porpoising near Brown Pelican photo by daniel bianchetta

Long-beaked Common Dolphin porpoising near Brown Pelican (October 18, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale eye close-up photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale eye close-up (October 18, 2023)

 

Pacific White-sided Dolphins photo by daniel bianchetta

Pacific White-sided Dolphins (October 16, 2023)

 

Breaching Risso's Dolphin photo by daniel bianchetta

Breaching Risso’s Dolphin (October 16, 2023)

 

Rhiinoceros Auklets photo by daniel bianchetta

Rhiinoceros Auklets (October 16, 2023)

 

Killer Whale Frosty and his mother photo by daniel bianchetta

Killer Whale Frosty and his mother (October 15, 2023)

 

Killer Whale Frosty photo by daniel bianchetta

Killer Whale Frosty (October 15, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale pectoral fin photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale pectoral fin (October 12, 2023)

 

Osprey with breakfast photo by daniel bianchetta

Osprey with breakfast (October 12, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale tail photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale tail (October 10, 2023)

 

Southern Sea Otter in kelp photo by daniel bianchetta

Southern Sea Otter in kelp (October 9, 2023)

 

Risso's Dolphin photo by daniel bianchetta

Risso’s Dolphin (October 9, 2023)

 

Brown Pelican diving photo by daniel bianchetta

Brown Pelican diving (October 8, 2023)

 

Breaching Humpback Whale photo by daniel bianchetta

Breaching Humpback Whale (October 8, 2023)

 

Parasitic Jaeger photo by daniel bianchetta

Parasitic Jaeger (October 7, 2023)

 

Humpback Whale tail slap photo by daniel bianchetta

Humpback Whale tail slap (October 7, 2023)

 

Fin Whale photo by daniel bianchetta

Fin Whale (October 7, 2023)

 

Long-beaked Common Dolphin photo by daniel bianchetta

Long-beaked Common Dolphin (October 6, 2023)

 

Lunge-feeding Humpback Whale with birds and California Sea Lion photo by daniel bianchetta

Lunge-feeding Humpback Whale with birds and California Sea Lion (October 2, 2023)

 

Photos © 2023 Daniel Bianchetta

Copyright © 2023 Monterey Bay Whale Watch, LLC. No use of the sightings information is permitted without prior approval.

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