Whale migration watching time of the year, boat trips from Half Moon Bay

The Daily Journal (San Mateo County), Sally Schilling, 2/23/13. "Underwater giants."  Four three-hour boat tours from Half Moon Bay are listed with phone numbers at the bottom of the article.

Wow, you may see this

More likely, you might see this  

For Tom Mattusch, captain of the Huli Cat, spotting whales is something you get a feel for after spending decades on the sea.  This year, he has already been out whale watching near Half Moon Bay a few times and seen gray whales, which are about 45 feet long, and the smaller minke whales.

The captain tells fantasy-like stories of his encounters with whales. Once a blue whale — the largest mammal on the planet at up to 98 feet long — was swimming right at his boat. As it went by, Mattusch looked down at a blowhole that could easily fit a five-gallon bucket, he said.

Most likely, you would see this

Gray whale migration.  This time of year, gray whales are migrating between the polar waters of Alaska and the warm lagoons in Baja California. This movement creates a spectacle for eager whale watchers boating out of Half Moon Bay. "We are on the gray whale highway," said Izzy Szczepaniak, a marine biologist who leads whale-watching tours for the Bay Area-based Oceanic Society.  ..."We have the opportunity to see them going both directions," he said.   Read article.

Related - Oceanic Society. "The annual gray whale migration, one of the world's most magnificent and accessible wildlife spectacles, is underway. Each year approximately 15,000 of an estimated total population of 17,500 gray whales swim south from Arctic feeding grounds, en route to their Baja California breeding and calving grounds."  Queen of Hearts. "Most of the migrating whales remain close to the coast, in water less than 100 fathoms (about 600 feet) deep." Coastal Views magazine. "Whale watching in Half Moon Bay." "It’s whale watching season again on the San Mateo County coast. Here are some popular venues."  Fix Pacifica articles, Whale migration.

Posted by Kathy Meeh