Redondo Beach, CA - "They're coming in fast," Captain Brad Sawyer recently shouted to his crew. "Their speed is a good 10-15 knots, and we only go 8!"
For the second year in a row, the biggest mammals in the world, the blue whales, were moving through Redondo Canyon in search of krill, a type of crustacean and one of the main sources of food for the whales.
It is not abnormal for the blue whales to be found this far north. However, Craig Stanton, a local skipper and part owner of the Voyager, believes the whales have been seen in this area because of the change in weather and currents, pushing colder water inshore and bringing the krill and subsequentually the blues with it. Redondo Canyon is the perfect feeding grounds for the blues, trapping the krill and creating the perfect all-you-can-eat buffet.
"The more food they have the longer they stay," said Sawyer. "When we're whale watching, it's the blues that put on a show. The grays are on a migration mission, but it's the blues that swim in circles feeding and allow people to see them."
Only 1 percent of people have ever seen a blue whale, making it a unique experience and an exciting adventure.
Bramwell Burrows, 7, saw his first whale ever on the Friday expedition. "I thought it was cool," he said. "I didn't think they would be so big."
Sawyer watched the water and adjusted his ship, Voyager, to the appropriate distance from the gigantic creatures. His ship is about 65 ft long and weighs approximately 42 tons. He estimated the blue whales he was following to be about 85 ft. long and 80 tons.
"That's why you definitely don't want to get in their way," Sawyer explained.
Nichole Beckman, a 26-year-old deck hand from Torrance, scanned the water. "We're looking for the light blue color they get their name from before they crest the surface."
They were scanning the water's surface for "fluke prints," which is what indicates a blue whale is cresting the water. At such times it appears flatter and a light blue color can be seen coming to the surface.
Once passengers realized what they were looking for, they scanned the water hoping to see the majestic creatures. Water spouted about 40 feet into the air from the surface, and cameras and eyes turned to the disturbance.
"Three o'clock!" Sawyer shouted, and most of the passengers on the ship ran to the right side to see two whales breaching and exhaling through their blowholes, sending spouts of water and vapor into the air.
Peggy Gillian, a veteran naturalist in the CMA/ASC-LA volunteer program and whale enthusiast, talked to a group of passengers about the whales, explaining their eating habits and migration tendencies.
"The blue whale," she explained, "is the largest mammal to ever inhabit the earth. Their blowholes have a splash guard and they can grow to be 90-100 feet long. Females are larger than males and they live almost exclusively on krill."
It is not entirely known how long blue whales live. Some people suggest 30-40 years while others estimate that they can live to 100.
"Just being outside on the ocean is great," said marine biology student Carina Salazar, "especially when we can see them up close — it's amazing."
Passengers on this day's outing frequently lost sight of the whales when the Voyager had to yield to passing sailboats. Passengers would sit down and snap photos as the crewmen watched for the whales.
They would wait for a few minutes, the boat in idle, until they knew where to move next. Once someone shouted from the front of the boat as passengers saw a bubbling surface just meters from the front of the ship.
One of the whales emerged but the location of the other leviathan was unknown.
"Where's the other one…holy cow… find the other one!" Sawyer shouted to the crew. Several deck hands quickly moved about the boat, watching the water for signs of the other whale, hoping it wouldn't come up under the ship.
Off in the distance they saw the other whale blow water at least 20 feet into the air. Both whales were now spotted. Sawyer turned the engines back on and followed the pair, allowing people more time for photographs.
Blues are often found in pairs and can be found in all oceans of the world — now surprisingly showing up 5 miles offshore from Redondo Beach's King Harbor.
"We saw so much wildlife today," said April House volunteer activist with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as well as a whale-watch naturalist with the American Cetacean Society's Los Angeles chapter and Cabrillo Marine Museum. "When they were charging through so quickly we saw behavior we normally don't get to see. They were moving so fast for such big creatures."
The Voyager departs daily from Redondo Beach Marina in search of whales. Crew and passengers often see dolphins, sharks, sea lions and the good-luck fish, mola mola. So far this year, the Voyager crew has had sightings on every recent outing, and last year they had a similar success rate. If more blue whales migrate to the area, the Voyager will potentially have multiple excursions daily until early October if history repeats itself.
0 comments:
Post a Comment