Monterey Bay Whale Watch Map of Marine Mammal
Sightings in the Monterey Bay Region
January 1 - January 31, 2000
compiled by Richard Ternullo
Note: Gray Whales are not plotted on the chart. Numerous California Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, and Southern Sea Otters are seen on all trips, and also are not plotted.
Gray Whales continue to be the most frequently seen large cetacean in Monterey Bay, and will continue to be for the next few months. Sighting rates will decline as the southbound migration tails off and the first northbound migrants are recorded by the second week of February. Sightings will rapidly increase until the March peak of northbounders occurs. There will be an overlap of migrants in both directions during early February.
And now for the most important sighting among toothed whales, and possibly in
recent marine mammal observations: L pod (and portions of K pod) of the Southern
Community of Puget Sound/Canada Killer Whales were seen in Monterey Bay. These
are among the most studied and intensely monitored of all wild cetaceans in the
world. They are the target of whalewatchers from all over the world when they
intercept the heavy salmon runs concentrated in the Haro Strait area in summer.
They have been notably absent in winter with their whereabouts unknown. In the
Puget Sound area they have been seen arriving "from the south" every year. Perhaps
they are found off Central California/Oregon/Washington in winter but have never
been detected until now. This represents a range extension of over 1000 km. Photographs
and details about this remarkable sighting are in our February
2000 Feature.
The sightings plotted above were compiled by Richard Ternullo for the period 1/1/00 to 1/31/00.
Sightings reported by American Cetacean Society, J. Aliotti, D. Davi, D. Frank, N. Lemon, T. Lorenze, L. Ortiz, G. McGowen, Monterey Bay Whale Watch, H. Neece, Shearwater Journeys, L. Oliver, K. Whitaker, J. Wettle, W. Williamson, T. Zoliniack.