I asked bey if he wanted to do anything special for his birthday weekend, thinking like maybe an overnighter in Sausalito or camping at the beach or something, and without hesitation he says "Whale Watching". That man is a genius!
We took off out of Santa Cruz Harbor last Saturday a little after noon. We had Moss Landing as a landmark, so basically I guess we went south down the Bay toward Monterey and back. All told it was about a 4 hour trip.
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He also had the genius idea to rent binoculars, and we spent a lot more time looking through those than trying to get pictures, but of course we have some to share.
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We saw lots of birds, but didn't manage to get any pictures of them.
The first interesting undersea life we saw were jellyfish. Then we kept seeing them, jellyfish for miles. Moon Jellies and Sea Nettles. Amazing.
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Also, whales. Humpbacks specifically, just like in
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home!
We tracked one for a bit, then we followed a pair of them for a real long time. Finally we left them alone and tracked another loner who we thought might have been the first guy again, but he wasn't.
They mostly hang out under the water, so there's a lot you don't get to see. But you can see their noses (blowholes) when they breathe, and the spray you see is their very warm breath condensing in the air.
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The money shot is when they dive and their tail (fluke) comes up out of the water. Exciting stuff!
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