San Benitos Islands
Well, before sunrise excitement began, as a group of short-fined pilot whales were sighted. The grey skies and slightly wavy seas added a touch of drama to the three small islands in front of us, which were our morning’s destination. Big waves could be seen at the distance crashing onshore, sending jets of white water high above the rocks. Then, even taller blows were discovered, those made by several blue and fin whales! Even bottlenose dolphins joined the Sea Bird, in total we were fortunate enough to experience four cetacean species before breakfast!
After dropping the anchor in the channel between the islands we went ashore with another marine mammal in mind, as the San Benitos are calving grounds of the northern elephant seal. It took us a short hike through the picturesque abalone fishermen’s village to find the massive seals. Being still early in the season, the dozen or so elefantes had plenty of room for themselves, as the bulk of the population was still to arrive during the following weeks. However, most of the females already had a black, sleepy and ever-hungry pup each, whereas the big dominant bull made sure that smaller males didn’t invade his domains. We all got excellent views of them and marveled about the amazing adaptations that this species have for foraging in the deep waters of the north Pacific. And then, as we slowly moved away from the elephant seals and got the last view of those huge, beady eyes, the grey skies and big swells didn’t seem that intimidating after all.
Well, before sunrise excitement began, as a group of short-fined pilot whales were sighted. The grey skies and slightly wavy seas added a touch of drama to the three small islands in front of us, which were our morning’s destination. Big waves could be seen at the distance crashing onshore, sending jets of white water high above the rocks. Then, even taller blows were discovered, those made by several blue and fin whales! Even bottlenose dolphins joined the Sea Bird, in total we were fortunate enough to experience four cetacean species before breakfast!
After dropping the anchor in the channel between the islands we went ashore with another marine mammal in mind, as the San Benitos are calving grounds of the northern elephant seal. It took us a short hike through the picturesque abalone fishermen’s village to find the massive seals. Being still early in the season, the dozen or so elefantes had plenty of room for themselves, as the bulk of the population was still to arrive during the following weeks. However, most of the females already had a black, sleepy and ever-hungry pup each, whereas the big dominant bull made sure that smaller males didn’t invade his domains. We all got excellent views of them and marveled about the amazing adaptations that this species have for foraging in the deep waters of the north Pacific. And then, as we slowly moved away from the elephant seals and got the last view of those huge, beady eyes, the grey skies and big swells didn’t seem that intimidating after all.
