#24 Mar 2014 Whales, Dolphins and SEA LIONS!

We stayed at the Salinas/Monterey KOA Resort for a week. This park has the best internet and cable TV of our trip. We spent hours on Skype and usually had good service. It was a great opportunity to catch up with family and friends.

We have often looked longingly at whale watching tours around Vancouver; however, we know the chance of seeing a whale is less than 100%. In the Monterey area there are so many migrating whales the tours almost always see whales. Our biggest decision was which tour company to choose, small or large boat, top deck viewing (which costs more), 3, 4 or 5 hour tour. We chose the big 100’ boat with top deck viewing and a 3 hour cruise (not to Gilligan’s Island which is in Hawaii).

Gray whales are migrating north past Monterey Bay at this time of year. From about 100 yards away we watched 4 gray whales for half an hour as they came up to blow.

Then they would dive and disappear for 2 or 3 minutes. As they age the gray whales bodies become white with scars from fighting and mottled with barnacles. Gray whales rarely breach the water completely so we only saw their backs and occasionally their tails.

The top deck view was worth it as we had a much better view of the whales and dolphins. When they swim just under the surface of the water their bodies create a green glow from the reflected sunlight.

We saw a group of 8 Rossi dolphins who were on a route different from ours so we enjoyed them for a few minutes but again they did not breach the water.

It was a sunny day in Monterey but foggy out to sea; however, the Skipper found his way home without mishap.

Around Fisherman’s Wharf the sound of the sea lions is deafening sometimes. This breakwater is covered with sea lions, cormorants and the occasional habour seal.

They are everywhere around the water and on every flat surface they can access.

We could not see the bottom layer of sea lions so can only guess there were at least 30 on this float.

All together an amazing day!