An overcast Monterey Bay day

These photos are from May 12 (Yes, A whole month late on posting them!) while on the Monterey Bay Whale Watch boat. It was a very overcast day, which if you don't live in the area- is very, very common. We saw about 20 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) along with some risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) and pacific white sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens).

The first series is of the humpbacks that we saw doing some interesting behaviors. They were mostly doing pec slaps- slapping the water with their big pectoral fins. We saw a few breaches and tail slaps from a distance as well.

Humpback fluke

Humpback whale with a risso's dolphin (dorsal fin to the left of the whale)

Two humpback whales slapping their pectoral fins

Humpback whale slapping the water and making a big splash.

The next series is of the dolphins we saw along side the boat. The pacific white sided dolphins were riding in our wake, bow riding and along side the boat. A few were jumping out of the water and spinning (which is a common behavior for spinner dolphins, but rarely seen in white sided dolphins).

Pacific white sided dolphin along side the boat

Pacific white sided dolphin spinning while jumping out of the water.

Risso's dolphin.

Rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) taking flight.

A hauled out sea otter

These photos are from back in February in Monterey. I was at otter point, which is west of lover's point. This male otter swam by, checked out the intertidal and then hauled out on the surf grass for a bit.

Can you find the hiding otter?

A little sun in the afternoon

I haven't been out taking photos mostly because it has been pretty foggy (as it always is in summer in Coastal California) and I haven't really had the time to travel to other, non-foggy places. Last week I got a nice sunny day (and it happened to be a day off) so what better way to spend it? Right, taking photos of otters, the little critters I look at day in and day out. Sea otters never get boring because they are constantly eating different things. For me, and many of my coworkers, there is this constant sense of excitement while watching an otter forage. Sometimes they are reliable, coming up with the same thing time after time, but you never know when they will bring up something new and different. For me, this is what makes my job interesting, but it also makes photographing otters very interesting and always different.
I think of my photos like trading cards. I don't have any otters eating ____ yet. Or I have one, but I want a better one! Wednesday (Sept 7th) I went to the coast guard jetty in Monterey and found an otter who was eating sand dollars. This behavior is not new for me, but it is one prey item I have not gotten on film (well, not really on film anymore....) yet so I was excited. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoy taking them! It isn't my fault if it makes you want some cookies after viewing :)