Humpback Thanks Rescuer

A female humpback "thanks" a diver after a group of environmentalists worked for hours to free a whale tangled in a web of crab pots and hundreds of yards of line off the Farallon Islands outside San Francisco.

The caption of the photo which was e-mailed to me reads:
"May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you."

Porpoises in the Bay

Harbor porpoises have recently been sighted back in San Francisco Bay. For the last 65 years these shy and elusive marine mammals have rarely been found inside Golden Gate Bridge. Marine biologists are wondering what ecological changes are occurring that would account for their increase in numbers.

They have been seen from atop a bluff at Cavallo Point and have also been sighted in Racoon Strait between Tiburon and Angel Island.

Dog Meets Dolphin

Paya and Ritchie

Paya and Ritchie follow along side of a boat off the island of Roatan (from one of the recent 2010 Dolphin Adventure Trips).

Labrador Swims with Dolphin

On most days a wild bottlenose dolphin who the locals have named Dougie swims with the Tory island hotel owner's dog Ben. Tory is off the southwest coast of Donegal in Ireland.

Baby Pink Dolphin Rescued

After being rescued, a baby pink dolphin is taken care by biologists at the Pailas river in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on Monday. Biologists and environmental activists are trying to rescue dolphins trapped in early July in the Pailas river, a tributary of the Rio Grande river, north of the city of Santa Cruz, when drought caused water levels to drop. (AP Photo)

Looks ancient, very wise for a baby!

Blue Whales in Monterey

I spent last weekend on a whale watching boat out of Monterey Bay, CA. First off — what a spectacular drive down the coast even though we hit some summer traffic in a few places! We reached our destination just in time to catch a 5:30 cruise leaving from Fisherman's Wharf (you need to book ahead).

Apparently, an abundance of krill (tiny shrimp) has been appearing off shore, drawing huge numbers of whales — both humpbacks and blue whales. Researchers say that the whales seem to have used their long distance communication skills to summon other whales. This is the largest concentration of blue whales in this area in a decade.

What a thrill to see the gigantic spouts of the blues and their long, smooth torsos rising out of the sea. We saw quite a few humpbacks as well, some of them "singing" (like excited elephants!) as they rode through the waves.

Below is my best video of two humpbacks:



Back in the harbor and along shore we continued to feel like we were in a marine mammal wonderland with sea otters floating among the boats and throngs of sea lions and harbor seals lounging on the rocks and beaches.



There's a feeling of shared community with so many animals around. Instead of a lot of noisy boat traffic, a few sailboats dotted the bay while small groups of kayakers paddled through islands of floating kelp. There were also a number of scuba divers in the water.



There's a calm, Meditarrean feel to the town with cafes and bistros along the waterfront and people just enjoying the scene.

Ray Sighting

I saw the little ray again today, and it's my birthday. He was swimming around in the same area where I'd seen him before, probably foraging off the bottom. I'd thought he'd continued to move up along the shoreline, but he seems to be making an extended stay.

It's a Shark! No, It's a . . .

The other evening I was walking with my partner along the bay in Marin County here in California. We are lucky to live a 1-minute walk from a long path that travels right along the water's edge. In one direction you see Mt. Tamalpais. If you look in the other way, you can see the Richmond Bridge. When the tide is out, a large expanse of muddy bottom is exposed studded with craggy rocks. Today the tide was in. Suddenly, Lex said, "There's a small shark!" Close to the bank rippling across the surface was what appeared to be a small, floppy dorsal fin. Then we saw two. "Maybe it's a mom and her baby," I said. But as we watched, we could see both "fins" rise and fall together equidistant apart. "It's a ray," said Lex. "It must be feeding." The "fins" disappeared, and a long, whip-thin tail waved near the long grass. We watched its undulating movements for awhile before continuing with our walk.

Since then, I've googled rays in California, and I suspect that this was a bat ray because of the pointed "wings" and the very thin tail. Apparently, they feed on clams and shrimp and other crustaceans. Their stinger can inflict some very painful wounds, but is used only in self-defense. They are not by nature an aggressive animal. It's best not to accidently step on them.

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Welcome to the Dolphins in Paradise blog—another adventure! When time permits and inspiration strikes, I will try to add newsworthy notes and "ah ha's." First, bookmark this page! To write comments for any of the postings, click on a post title. To find archived posts check out the "Blog Archive" at the bottom of the sidebar. To become a fan of this blog click on "Followers" below the Blog Archive. If you elect to follow the blog publicly, your profile picture will be displayed. You can also do a "search" for topics, and you will be shown a list of related links in the posts, and also a "See These Links" tab which shows links to other sites. That's it! Enjoy. . .

Gray whale sighted off Israel

I was forwarded a bit of news today: A gray whale has apparently found its way through the arctic ice in the Northwest Passage near the Bering Strait to the Atlantic ocean. It then migrated south and eventually turned left into the Mediterranean ending up off the shores of Israel instead of the southern tip of Baja. Gray whales have not been seen in the Atlantic for over 200 hundred years! According to scientists it should be able to survive because there is plenty of food here. The question is whether this could be the beginning of a new migration pattern or re-colonisation of the Atlantic. This is another side effect of the climate changes our planet is going through. Interesting where a wrong turn can take you.