Highlight: On July 5, 2010 we observed over
70 blue and humpback whales feeding on krill in Monterey
Bay.
Update August 31, 2010:
We're continuing to see blue and humpback whales on
our trips. Learn
more...
Monterey Bay Whale Watch is Observation Post
#9 on Journey
North, which tracks the northward migration of gray
whales and other species.
This website features sightings and news provided by observers at
observation posts along the entire gray whale migration route from
Baja California to northern Alaska.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch offers year-round whale watching trips to
observe the spectacular diversity and abundance of whales and dolphins
inhabiting the Bay. Monterey is the best place in the nation to view
a variety of marine mammals and seabirds. The Monterey Submarine Canyon
approaches close to the shore, allowing deep water species of whales,
dolphins, and seabirds to occur near the coast. Shallow water species,
such as the gray whale, are found very close to shore in the narrow
shelf region.
Depending on the season, whales and dolphins that are frequently observed
include Gray Whales, Humpback Whales, Blue Whales, Pacific White-Sided
Dolphins, Risso's Dolphins, Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Common
Dolphins, Killer Whales, and Dall's Porpoise. We occasionally spot
Fin Whales, Minke Whales, Harbor Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphins, and
Beaked Whales.
Our captains have over 20 years of experience with nature trips and
offer excellent views of marine wildlife. All our trips are led by
marine biologists, most with 10+ years experience, who fully narrate
and answer questions during trips. Our whale watching trips are educationally
oriented and our biologists collect valuable data on the marine mammals
sighted during these trips, including distribution, relative abundance,
and behavior of whales and dolphins. We also photo-identify individual
whales and dolphins, contributing to assessments of population, residency
patterns, and migration or movement patterns.
We are unique in that we are the only whale watching group that has
marine biologists on all trips, offers trips in Monterey Bay on a
regular basis, schedules trip lengths depending on the season to allow
enough time to watch whales and other marine life, and has the most
skilled captains who know where to find whales and how to approach
them. There is a world of difference between our quality trips and
shorter trips offered by others, providing merely a quick glimpse
of a whale with no information. That's why we are considered the best
of the whale watches in Monterey Bay!
Monterey
Bay Whale Watch in the News and on TV Specials:
July
2010 - Exceptional number of Blue Whales and Humpback
Whales feeding on krill in Monterey Bay.
Killer
Whales from Puget Sound Resident L-Pod were spotted off
Monterey on March 5, 2009.
Southern Resident Killer Whales Sighted in January and
February 2008 in Monterey Bay
On January 27, 2008 Monterey
Bay Whale Watch sighted about 40 members (some identified
as L Pod) of the Southern Residents best known from Puget
Sound and an endangered group of whales in Monterey Bay.
These Killer Whales were seen again on February 2.
Click on small images
below to see larger images.
Above mother &
calf photos taken by Nancy Black on February 2,
2008.
Above
photos taken by Nancy Black on January 27, 2008.
On November 15, 2008 Nancy
Black gave a presentation about Orcas in a Changing
World at the ACS Conference in Monterey.
•
On May 31, 2007 Nancy Black
gave a presentation about Killer Whales: Their behavior
and ecology in California Waters at the ACS Monterey
Bay Chapter meeting.
Blue
Planet - Seas of Life TV special was
shown on Animal Planet. Monterey Bay Whale Watch is featured
in Episode 1 - Ocean World, and in Episode
9 - The Making of the Blue Planet.
•
Discovery Channel's Animal
Planet featured Monterey Bay Whale Watch in the television
show Caught in the Moment, Episode
Seven: Monterey Bay. For details see Caught
in the Moment on the Animal Planet website.
•
The
Gray Whale Obstacle Course PBS Special
originally aired on July 19, 2006, and was shown again
on August 16 at 8 p.m. Part of a series of Jean-Michel
Cousteau's Ocean Adventures, this special
traces the Gray Whale migration from Alaska to Baja California
and back. In Monterey Bay Jean-Michel and his team are
joined by killer whale expert and biologist Nancy Black.
Local scenes include killer whales attacking a gray whale
mother and calf.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch
sponsored a fund-raising whale-watching boat trip for
the Monterey Bay Chapter of the American Cetacean Society
(ACS/MB) on Sunday, August 21, 2005. Learn more
about this trip.
•
On
August 2, 2005: Nancy Black gave a presentation entitled
Orcas: Behavior and Ecology of Killer Whales at
the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA.
•
On May 25, 2005, a story
about Monterey Bay Whale Watch, Nancy Black, and Killer
Whales was featured on the CBS Evening News.
•
On May 11, 2005, Nancy Black
and Monterey Bay Whale Watch were featured on the Today
Show on NBC.
•
The BBC film "Killer
Whale: Killer Culture" was featured on the Discovery
Channel on September 14, 15 and 21, 2004. Nancy Black
and Richard Ternullo of Monterey Bay Whale Watch were
scientific consultants on the film project for parts filmed
in Monterey Bay as well as in Alaska.
Monterey Bay Whale Watch offers year-round whale watching trips to
observe the spectacular diversity and abundance of whales and dolphins
inhabiting the Bay. Monterey is the best place in the nation to view
a variety of marine mammals and seabirds. The Monterey Submarine Canyon
approaches close to the shore, allowing deep water species of whales,
dolphins, and seabirds to occur near the coast. Shallow water species,
such as the gray whale, are found very close to shore in the narrow
shelf region.
