Jumping humpback whales off coast splashing their way onto center stage
Whale watching has changed during the coronavirus pandemic, with the Oceanic Society and other operators setting new protocols and raising trip prices to keep people distanced, safe and satisfied.
Meanwhile, the whales and shorebirds don’t seem to care, with landmark numbers of humpback and blue whales being sighted off the Bay Area coast. Hopping onto a whale watching trip also opens the chance for rare sightings of dolphins, orcas and leatherback turtles. An array of shorebirds, including murres, tufted puffins, pelicans and many others, provide a backdrop, including thousands now breeding at the Southeast Farallon Island.
As operations gain new footing, the best reports have come from fishing boats, where those aboard have often been surrounded by humpback whales during their trips.
“We were fighting a fish, and a humpback whale came up right next to the boat and sprayed us all with water,” said Capt. Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat out of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay.
Humpbacks have often been
sighted this month jumping in pirouettes, breaching and spy hopping. On feeding dives, the 40foot humpbacks will often raise their tails high in the air and then propel down into the sea. Their distant spouts look like miniature puffs of smoke and draw whale watchers in for closer looks. Skippers often then put their boats in neutral or turn off the engines, when the whales often choose to cruise up nearby and spout in close range.
A research trip at the Farallon Islands sighted 50 blue whales in a single session, reported Chris Biertuempfel, California programs manager for the Oceanic Society. “That is an alltime record,” he wrote in his trip log.
Biologists credited vast amounts of krill for “bringing in droves of humpback and blue whales to the Farallon feeding zone,” Biertuempfel wrote in his log.
Huge schools of juvenile anchovies, what anglers call “pinheads,” have also arrived off both the Marin coast, often near Duxbury, and along the San Mateo coast at the Deep Reef and offshore Pedro Point, according to reports from captains of fishing boats.
Based on logbooks with the Oceanic Society, there is a 98% chance of sighting whales from August to October on one of their trips.
To make trips available and set safety protocols under guidelines set by county health officials, the Oceanic Society has rolled out a new program for the rest of summer and into fall. With more space onboard for social distancing, about half the number of people compared with past years, prices are higher.
A new evening cruise out the Golden Gate, scheduled from 4:30 to 7 p.m., costs $120 per person, sold as a “station pass” for two passengers for $240. These trips venture from San Francisco and out the Golden Gate, and then either head north to the Marin coast or south off of Pacifica.
Allday trips, called “Farallon Islands Wildlife Expeditions,” depart San Francisco at 10:30 a.m. and return at 6 p.m. and cost $300 per person, and are also sold as a “station pass” for two for $600.
These trips provide the best chance for sightings of humpback whales and feeding shorebirds at the Southeast Farallon Islands. A wild card at the Farallones is the rare chance to see great white sharks, orcas, turtles and the biggest creature of them all, the blue whale.
Trips leave from the San Francisco Small Craft Harbor, located at the northwest corner of Marina Green, with free parking available.
Instead of roaming around the boat, you must instead stay with your buddy at your viewing station, according to the new rules, though you can freely venture to other open stations. Each trip will have 16 stations and the Oceanic Society said it would sell passes for 20 people for 10 stations.
All passengers and crew wear face masks, social distancing is required, and no one with recent symptoms is allowed on the boats. The crew has completed coronavirus transmission reduction training and certification, and is required to keep boarding and checkin areas clean and sanitize common areas, says the Oceanic Society.