Whales & Dolphins of Monterey Bay Naturetrek Tour Report 27 August - 4 September 2018 Blue Whale fluking Sea Otters at Moss Landing Northern Elephant Seals Long-beaked Common Dolphins Report and images by Peter Dunn Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Whales & Dolphins of Monterey Bay Tour participants: Peter Dunn & Ian Nicholson (leaders) with eight Naturetrek Clients Summary The beautiful ‘Big Sur coast’ of California is an ideal setting for this wildlife tour which, in addition to whale watching excursions, included such highlights as Sea Otters, Elephant Seals, California Condor and a great selection of seabirds, all amid a setting that is strangely familiar from countless depictions on film and TV. Day 1 Monday 27th August London to San Francisco Peter and Ian were waiting for the group members having arrived a few days earlier to make arrangements.The flight landed a little ahead of time and after we dropped our hold luggage with Ruben to transport to the hotel, we headed for the vehicles parked in garage G. Soon we were heading south along the US101 towards Monterey. As we travelled along the highway and away from the suburbs of San Francisco, passing through Silicon Valley, we had excellent views of the mountains and hills of the Diablo Range to our left. In the afternoon sunshine, the dry grassy scrub known as chaparral was golden-coloured. Because of the later flight and it getting dark, we decided to take a more direct route to Carmel Valley, via Salinas and over Laureles Grade into the valley, beating Ruben who had taken the coastal road We arrived at our accommodation at the Contenta Inn about 9pm local time where, after accessing our rooms, some partook of the cold deli supper made for us by chef Jerome and we were reunited with our luggage after which we retired to bed after a long long day. Day 2 Tuesday 28th August Monterey Bay and Monterey Headland Morning came too soon for some and not early enough for others with body clocks all scrambled, however a fine breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and cereals was very welcome. Some of the early risers had found American Bushtit and Anna’s Hummingbird around the hotel and an unusual sight were a small flock of Wild Turkey flying from a tree onto a house roof! We set off for Fisherman’s’ Wharf in overcast skies but the visibility was good. As we walked along Fisherman’s Wharf we had our first sightings of the large Western Gulls and Harbour (Common) Seals. With all the paperwork organised prior to our arrival, we strolled over to Discovery Whale Watch and were welcomed by Katlyn and the rest of the staff. We were to ride on the Chubasco skippered by JJ along with Eric the naturalist and Danny the deck hand, and were soon invited aboard. With only 32 passengers there was plenty of room on the deck and we slowly headed out into the harbour where ŵe saw our first Sea Otters and passed the coastguard pier where the smell and sight of over 200 California Sea Lions was memorable. There was also a good selection of Brandt’s Cormorants, a few Black Turnstone and Heermann’s and Western Gulls. © Naturetrek October 18 1 Whales & Dolphins of Monterey Bay Tour Report We initially headed out towards the west but some activity to the north caused us to change course. We came across a large (800+) pod of Common Dolphins and amongst them the first Humpbacked Whales appeared. We positioned ourselves in an area where the Humpbacks were feeding and over the next hour was saw them lunge feeding, breaching and fluking, with Common Dolphins dashing about amongst them. There were also plenty of Brandt’s Cormorants and gulls with them and herds of California Sea Lions followed the whales on the surface. Parties of Elegant Terns came in to feed and this attracted the attention of a few Arctic Skuas (Parasitic Jaegers). We moved further north-west where Sooty Shearwaters started to appear and a large whale blow way to north was possibly a Blue Whale but we failed to locate it. We continued to zig zag across the bay and the edge of the canyon, drifting south where more and more Sooties appeared as well as one or two larger Pink-footed Shearwaters. More Humpbacks were seen and a large Pomarine Skua flew past and small groups of Rhinoceros Auklets and Red-necked Phalaropes were seen. This had been a fantastic first morning with some excellent sightings in perfect calm weather but it was soon time to head back to Monterey, following the Monterey Headland past Point Pinos and the aquarium and back into harbour. We thanks the crew for the great start to our Monterey adventure and headed to Abalonetti’s Restaurant for a lunch of clam chowder bowls or local seafood/beef sandwiches. In the afternoon we moved slowly around the Monterey Headland stopping a various points around Point Pinos where Sea Otters were seen and numerous species of waders (shorebirds) such as Black Oystercatchers and Turnstones, Surfbird, Spotted Sandpipers and a large roosting flock of Sanderling and Grey (Black-bellied) Plovers. We made our way back to the Inn, stopping at the supermarket for supplies and later we completed our checklist before enjoying a tasty dinner supplied by Jerome. Day 3 Wednesday 29th August Monterey Bay A few met before breakfast and we walked up onto the disused airfield were we saw many Mourning Doves, some Western Bluebirds, two Red-shouldered Hawk and California Towhee and a Bewick’s Wren. After a fine breakfast we headed north to Fisherman’s Wharf and boarded the Chubasco skippered again by JJ but with Brit as naturalist and Alfonso as deckhand, for a full day on the water. It was a glorious morning with blue sky already breaking through the light cloud and a clear horizon. We left harbour with the usual visit to the sea lions on the pier and on the seaward side there was a Black-crowned Night Heron feeding on the rocks. We headed south-west and today there was little swell and the sea colour was ideal for spotting wildlife. We passed feeding sea lions and flocks of Brandt’s Cormorants and good numbers of the Pacific race of Northern Fulmar, which varied from pale to very dark grey/brown. Suddenly a bird on the sea stopped us in our tracks, as a breeding plumaged Tufted Puffin was spotted, a rare sighting this time of year in the bay, and Humpbacks started to appear around us. However two large blows ahead of us was the reward for going where others boats had not been and we came across two massive Blue Whales, one of which fluked-up showing its huge tail on a 2 © Naturetrek October 18 Whales & Dolphins of Monterey Bay Tour Report number of occasions. We stayed with these two animals for some time, a privileged to see the world’s largest mammal. We started to head north seeing more Humpbacks and many Sooty Shearwater. Rhinoceros Auklets were common but a single Cassin’s Auklet was seen briefly, - usually there are more at this time of year. After more whale encounters we headed back to Fisherman’s Wharf where we ate our sandwiches on the dock before re-boarding the Chubasco for an afternoon in the north of the bay. Rumours spread of Orcas to the north but they unfortunately left before we arrived. However we spent the afternoon in the company of the huge pod of Common Dolphins we had seen yesterday, feeding alongside many Humpbacks and we were rewarded with excellent views of lunge-feeding, pec fin slapping and tail lobbing! On the way back in a few Grey (Red) Phalaropes were seen with the more numerous Red-necks and in amongst the numerous Sooty Shearwaters we spied a few Pink-footed and a single Black-vented Shearwater. We arrived back at the dock just after 4pm and made our way back to the Inn, one vehicle seeing a Coyote in a grass field in Carmel Valley. We completed our checklist and Peter outlined the next day’s itinerary before a dinner of pork loin after which we retired for the night. Day 4 Thursday 30th August Big Sur to San Simeon We woke to a clear but cool day and a few ventured onto the airfield before breakfast where the Western Bluebirds were still present. Three White-tailed Kites flew over and a flock of twelve Wild Turkeys fed on the field having roosted in the trees behind the inn. After breakfast we collected our packed lunches and headed south on Highway 1 for a day on the Big Sur. We drove through Carmel Highlands and left the haze behind, entering a rugged sea/landscape with high cloud so visibility was reasonably good. Our first stop was at Bixby Bridge, a famous landmark worth photographing and relatively quiet today. It was also a lucky stop as we had good views of Western Tanager, Orange-crowed Warbler, Wrentit and a Peregrine. We continued on for a few miles and stopped at Andrew Molera State Park, where our usual walk was still closed after the previous year’s floods but we wondered down to the river and crossed over on a plank bridge to check the area. A Pacific-slope Flycatcher fed in the bushes with another seen later.