Humpback Whales August, 2014
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These photos were taken on August 7, 2014 in Monterey Bay near Moss Landing. A serious El Nino (10 degree rise in water temperature year-over-year!) has kept the krill away, which in turn has kept the blue whales away, but there's been a spectacular bloom of anchovies unseen in these waters for over 20 years which has attracted huge numbers of humpback whales. There are about 50 of them feeding nonstop quite near shore and another 100 or so on the way. It's interesting to watch the behaviors of so many behemoths in a relatively small area, especially since they've begun cooperatively feeding with enormous rafts of sea lions. There's some type of symbiotic relationship going on there. During the day, the anchovies stay down 250-300 feet. Perhaps the sea lions and whales work together to drive the anchovy bait balls closer to the surface. The way it works is 100 or so sea lions surface and appear to be in pursuit of anchovies. Shortly thereafter, several whales will surface and join the raft. The whales and sea lions swim in a forward direction and all too soon the action subsides and the animals disappear, only to reappear a few minutes latter to do a repeat performamce.
