Day 17 - Monterey Bay - Whale Watching and Seaside Quaintness

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Saturday 26th Nov at 5.48pm

Got up early and grabbed breakfast then wandered through town and down to Fishermans Wharf where I just about managed to catch the boat for my Whale Watching trip. We were told that a grey whale had been spotted in the bay area and so we spent 30mins or so staring at the ocean looking intently for spray or disturbances of the water. The anticipation was too muc! Unfortunatley, there were none and so, disappointed, we headed out to sea. Shortly afterwards, we came across a pod of 20 or so Rizo Dolphins. They were fantastic, some had young, others played with kelp in their tails.

After snapping a few hundred shots, we headed further out to sea. The swell was substancial, so much so that a guy on board asked that we go back as it felt too dangerous. I thought he was kidding at first but when I saw that the colour had mostly drained from his face, I realized he was deadly serious. You dont go on a whale watching trip if you're afraid of a few little (well, giant) waves. Needless to say, we didn't turn back and luckily so as shortly after, we got reports that other boats had found a pod of Orcas near Moss Landing. We headed that way and were not disappointed. We found a large male named Stumpy, so called because his dorsal fin had largey fallen off, two females and a juvenile. They had just made a kill when we arrived and so were quite visible. There's no way to explain how it feels to see whales in the wild, and so close too. They're magnificent creatures.

5 hours later, we arrived back into Monterey Bay and found that the dolphins were still there. We hung out with them for a little while longer then headed in.

I took a stroll around Fishermans Wharf, which has an old-world, small seaside town feel to it, so I bought an ice cream (mint choc chip) and people watched for a bit. What a great place, in the warmth of the sun, two old boys played Christmas songs on keyboards whilst I finished off my ice cream. A little girl stormed passed me shouting at her parents "nobody is getting their face painted, period" and I chuckled to myself.

I'm off for a bite to eat now so I'll update you when I get to Santa Barbara.

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