Sunday, May 12, 2013

Whales Sighted Up Close and Personal: Moss Landing, CA May 12, 2013

I took the Mrs. Chomper to Phil's Fish Market restaurant, in Moss Landing, California, for Mother's Day.  Moss Landing is near Monterey, California; there's a beach behind Phil's, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  While waiting to dine, we took a walk down to the beach and heard someone say "There's a whale over there."  A couple of folks began walking quickly in the direction of the alleged whale, so we decided to follow.
Whale's Flipper Protruding 

There was a whale all right.  One whale was frolicking about ten yards off the beach, occasionally raising a barnacle-encrusted flipper, exposing its back, spraying water from its spout.  It was the first time I had seen a whale.  I was surprised that a whale could come so close to the beach; it was probably of a smaller species, possible a humpback.

Whale's Dorsal Fin (Looks Shark-Like But It's a Whale)
Fortunately, I had brought my digital camera and captured some stills and video of the whales.  I posted a couple of stills above and will upload the video footage to YouTube later.

UPDATE:  Videos of my whale watching experience can be seen here and here.

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