FEATURE ARTICLES BY MONTEREY BAY WHALE WATCH

Nature’s truth and tragedy unfolded in a dramatic scene on Monterey Bay last week when a pack of 20 orcas attacked a mother gray whale and its calf. The fight lasted more than two hours, witnessed and photographed by field scout Bart Selby, and dozens aboard whale watching boats that cruised at top speeds to…

On October 31, our captain John Mayer spotted some killer whales just beyond the canyon edge, 8 miles northwest of Pt. Pinos. After watching the whales for a short time, he suspected that they were the offshore type. There are three types of killer whales found in the North Pacific, “transients” or mammal hunters (seen…

These photos were taken by Everett Robinson on a Monterey Bay Whale Watch trip on May 3, 2012. Check our sightings for daily updates.

These photos were taken by Mike Merlo from the Sea Wolf II on September 14, 2011. Check our sightings for daily updates.  

The best chance to see Killer Whales in Monterey Bay is in April and May. Although they aren’t here every day like the humpback whales, we often see the Killer Whales at that time of year as they come to Monterey Bay to hunt gray whales. In mid-April 2011, the humpback whales are just arriving,…

Monterey, CA. Today, February 10, 2011, members of the endangered group of Resident Killer Whales were spotted by Monterey Bay Whale Watch, headed into Monterey Bay along the deep submarine canyon. The group consisted of “L Pod” a family group of 40 individuals, part of the population of Southern Residents consisting of J, K and…

Today, July 5, 2010, both our vessels from Monterey Bay Whale Watch headed out on our regular 9:00 am trip with just over 100 people on holiday to look for whales. We’ve had some great sightings over the last week of humpback whales and hundreds of dolphins so we expected something similar. Instead we were…

The spring and summer of 2008 in Monterey Bay have been exceptional for the numbers of humpback whales feeding in the Bay. Over the last few months 40-60 whales have been feeding on massive schools of anchovies within a few miles of the Monterey Harbor. Along with the whales, thousands of California sea lions, harbor…

As winter approaches in Monterey Bay, humpback whales are feasting on the still abundant schools of anchovies as they finish their long feeding season off the California coast. Monterey Bay is a prime feeding area for them and we find the humpbacks relatively close to shore often near the deep and productive Monterey Submarine Canyon….

As the days become colder and fall changes to winter, here in Monterey Bay we notice the seasonal change by the animals that arrive for winter and those that depart. Monarch butterflies arrive to their sanctuary in Pacific Grove to overwinter; a variety of birds such as loons, grebes, and ducks leave their northern breeding…

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…