I thought of loading pics of our whale watching trip along the coast line of Monterey Bay. We staying in the Monterey Bay area then, and whale watching season was just beginning...from the early part of the year from January onwards in the Winter months.
That was the time when Humpback whales start their migration route from the Alaska to the warmer waters of Mexico. They will traverse the Western seaboard of USA, near California.
So,we started off on a early morning to one of the whale watching companies located in Monterey's Old Fisherman Wharf. There were a few of them operating at the Old Fisherman's Wharf. They cost about the same price....so, we reckoned that it didn't matter which company we chose. So, we chose Randy's Whale Watching. We paid about US$30 per person for a 1 1/2 hr trip.
Half the time was actually spent on setting out to sea....getting to the 'hot spots' where the Humpback whales were commonly spotted. Along the way, we passed by the breakwater and that was where we saw a number of sealions. We had to cover our noses as we neared the sealions basking as they really smell!
As we moved further away from the coast,with the coastline fast disappearing from our sights, the sea state got rougher. The good thing was that we had the stomach for the ride and the sea state, with waves rocking the boat every now and then, didn't affect us too much. The winds were particularly cold though as we were still mid-way through the winter months in the USA.
As we neared the migration route of the Humpback whales, the captain of the boat cut the engines. This was the standard practice in whale watching as it was intended not to alarm and cause panic to these magnificent mammals.
We didn't get to see an entire school of whales but one single solitary specimen. Nevertheless, seeing is believing and it was our first time doing this. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the whale spout nor manage to capture its complete tail flip.
Every now and then, our boat would speed up to catch up with 'our' whale and then the captain would again cut his engine and drift along. For the safety of everyone on board, the captain kept a safe distance from the Humpback whale making its journey south to the warmer waters of Mexico.
There are some really awesome pics of whales in Randy's whale watching website. Just click on this link...http://www.randysfishingtrips.com/photo_expeditions.html
This is the Old Fisherman's Wharf at Monterey, California.
Sealions basking in the sun at the breakwater as we moved to the high seas.
Our first sight of a young Humpback Whale....arching its back.
