Getting the Hump in California

Birding opportunities have been limited on my family holiday for one reason or another, but today we took a short 3 hour boat trip out of Monterey Bay. It was very misty early morning, as is usual on the mid-upper California coast. 

California Sealions in the mist

I love the Brown Pelicans sailing by in the mist

A number of California Sealions were around, and we also saw our first Sea Otter as well, along with lots of Jellyfish and a few Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola).

California Sealions were out in large numbers feeding on huge Anchovy shoals

The fog bank continued as we sailed 45 minutes across the bay and headed for an area of water where we could see large numbers of Sealions feeding on a shoal of Anchovies. All of a sudden a Humpback Whale broke the surface of the water right behind the Sealions. 

Humpback Whale

Over the course of an hour we saw maybe 7 Humpback Whales and the views just got better and better and in the end we had 4 animals passing right in front of our ship. Great views indeed.

Grat views of Humpback Whales in Monterey Bay