Whale Watching with Local Guides 🐳

Meet-ups
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Went whale watching with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) on Earth Day this year!!! Joining fellow San Francisco Local Guide (and Summit 2017 attendee) @Twister411 at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, California for one of the monthly “Sanctuary Explorations”.

Ready to head out to sea!!! Thanks for the bunny ears Summer! :D
Ready to head out to sea!!! Thanks for the bunny ears Summer! :D3264×2448 2 MB
https://youtu.be/Yz8gWIBU8o4

This month’s exploration was a whale watching trip to see gray whale mother/calf pairs migrating from Mexico, where the calves were born at the beginning of the year. We charter out with the Oceanic Society and 2 naturalists from NOAA for 3 hours of whales!

A gorgeous day to be out on the sea, we did see whales. They are wild creatures and that is never guaranteed. 80,000 gray whales make this migration but it’s still possible to go out and not see them. We were lucky!

While out on the ocean, I decided to shoot my Connect Live 2018 video. Last year’s was at the top of Mission Peak, this years from the California coastline…I do love where I live! This is also why I love being a Local Guide…a chance to show people something different about the Bay Area!

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area or are going to be visiting here, these Sanctuary Explorations are something you might want to check out! This one had a nominal cost because of the chartered boat. Still well below what commercial whale watching trips will cost you. Most are in the $20 range. If you’re interested in the Exploration program, check their schedule of upcoming dates.

And if you’re lucky enough for it to be crab season, you might find yourself going home with live Dungeness like @Twister411 did!!!

That's a BIG crab!
That's a BIG crab!1043×1391 321 KB

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@KimberlyAnnG that trip went way better than expected and to see a mom and calf was exciting.

And the crab was delicious.

If I didn’t get seasick half way through and the fear of going if the rails I would have introduced you to Pete who’s one of NOAA’s naturalist. He has many tales that you would have enjoyed, including stories of how activities on whale wars. Next time!

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@Twister411 wrote:

@KimberlyAnnG that trip went way better than expected and to see a mom and calf was exciting.

And the crab was delicious.

If I didn’t get seasick half way through and the fear of going if the rails I would have introduced you to Pete who’s one of NOAA’s naturalist. He has many tales that you would have enjoyed, including stories of how activities on whale wars. Next time!

LOL!!! Oh, we got to chat with both Pete and the other one (terrible with names!) and they were fascinating. Pete told us all about killer whale predation on eastern North Pacific gray whales. Crazy stuff! His counterpart had all the sweet stories of interacting with the whales up close in the Baja lagoons. You could tell they dearly loved their jobs.

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