Gray whales now migrating north

  It was such a beautiful day yesterday, I just couldn't stay away from the coast.
I whalewatched for an hour or so from Bodega Head and saw one surface two times. While at Bodega I was told two other whales had been seen that day, resulting in an approximate density of 9-10 whales per day passing by close to that shore.

  Many whales pass by the south end of Bodega Head just outside of the first breaking waves. One came within 30' of me there last April! Maybe the current down the coast gets focused near shore in that area and they have to stay close to the rocks to stay out of the main flow. Whatever their reasons may be, that's a good area to try to see some whales in close from your kayak.

  Imagine the shortest line possible from Bodega Head to the 1-mile buoy south of the Head. If you position yourself on that line just outside of the foam line (300'-1000' off shore), you'll be in a good position to intercept the whales. If someone knows of any other good places to see whales from a kayak, I'd like to know about them! 

  It seems that a lot of whales pass by Bodega Head each year around the middle of April. You can launch a kayak for free from Campbell Cove off of Westshore Rd. but you'll have to fight a very strong current through the harbor mouth if you don't time your trip just right. Another option is to launch at Doran Beach ($5 day use fee).

  Paul
 

I was up doing some clean-up on my lot at Timber Cove (Sonoma Coast) on Saturday and happened to notice a whale blowing when I looked out over the water.  I had my 20x binoculars set up on the tripod so I took a break and watched for a while.  The ocean was perfect for Whale Watching and I ended up seeing a total of EIGHT for the day.  They were all headed north at a leisurely pace, some singles, a double (probably a cow and calf) and one triple.  It was my best day ever as my previous best there was Four.  The ocean was just perfect and I was wishing I was out there in my kayak fishing.  It was a Whale of a Day.   

My wife and I were back up at Timber Cove today and smashed last weeks record with a total of 20+ whales sighted.  It was another beautiful day on the coast and the northerly parade was in full swing.

  Today while driving along West Cliff dr in Santa Cruz, I spotted a quick roll of a whale real close to shore, It was spotted just past the house on the clift.We pulled over to catch another glimps of it but, we missed it some how as we never saw it again.  It was in close maybe 200yds.  We headed to Natural bridges and on the way my wife spotted 2 spouts a ways out in the bay!  Got to the parking lot and saw a pod of dolphins heading south, and a whale fluke!   

Troy

...still remember my first close encounter with a whale at Moss Landing almost a year ago. I was salmon fishing with Fred Savage that morning and a whale came up between us and started slapping the water with his tail for nearly 20 minutes....never knew why it was doing that....I kinda figured it was trying to get those dam barnacles off its skin  Hell, that's what I would do  Anyway, this was one of the many  reasons I why I finally broke down and bought a nice Pentax Optio water proof digi camera.....can't wait to spot another one this year - and hopefully get some nice photos   

I'm also interested in getting a Whale watching group together - one reason why I'm getting a faster kayak -  the Tarpon 160. Would love to paddle along these wonderful creatures. I know Kayak Connection does some trips from Davenport. Let me know if anyone would be interested in doing this.

I would be interested in a shortest paddle/number of whales ratio since there would be no fishing involved. Unless of course someone can come up with an idea of how to combine some fishing AND whale watching.
WORD on the T160!

Mooch,

Sounds great I'd be in for 2 people.

Tote,

I'm not sure about fishing around whales. Talk about a serious ride though!

Jeff

We had a great day in Carmel bay last summer where we had humpbacks and dolfins while rockfishing.  At one time I had a fish on and could hear a blow over my sholder.  Pat and Randy were on the radio telling me to look around.  It lasted all day and the whales were reported to stick around for a few weeks.

I also had a very close encounter with a couple of gray whales in the same area about 10 years ago.  The wife and I had ventured out from Monistary beach straight out into the whale south migration highway in order to see some.  There was nothing..... then about 100 yards north and heading toward us two grays breached and proceeded to swim right under our yaks.  I looked down and looked one right in the eye.  Very cool.

Monterey area is a good place to see whales without too long a paddle and if the season is right you can fish too.

what an amazing sight. last year when i was abalone diving in some large swells my wife said there was one less than 50 feet from where i was diving. if i had seen that thing in the low vis water i would have needed a new wetsuit. im glad it didnt mistake me for whale snacks.

john