The Latest From Blue Ocean Whale Watching in Monterey Bay

July was a wonderfully colorful month on Monterey Bay with rich marine life, excellent sea conditions and little fog. Humpback whales were a staple outside of Moss Landing harbor, with more individuals arriving on an almost daily basis.

Partway into July, the entire bay turned a brilliant turquoise color due to a rare plankton bloom – a phenomenon visible from space! Towards the end of the month the bay returned to its normal deep blue.

Throughout the month, Dall’s porpoise were a common sight and this allowed for many of our regular passengers to get on a boat and check this species off their bucket lists.

We also had one encounter with a fin whale and two sightings of blue whales, the most massive animals on earth. There was lots of playful activity on the bay throughout the month.

One day we had a cow/calf pair of humpback whales breaching together near the boat and another day a calf went airborne repeatedly (over 100 times!) all on its own while its mother dove and fed.

An abundance of different wildlife sightings during July included elephant seals, black-footed albatross, bottlenose dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, long-beaked common dolphins, harbor porpoise, sea lions devouring salmon, breaching Mola molas, sea otters with their newborn pups, and hundreds of elegant terns feeding on anchovies in the harbor.

All signs point to the wildlife spectacle getting even better in August. Come join us!