April 4
We headed down to San Fransisco and Monterey for spring break this year. Sheryl and I had visited there for a weekend in 2016 and we wanted to return with Connor.
Monterey Bay is an interesting spot that attracts whales on migration. There is a large offshore canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon that come very close to shore. The upwelling brings ups lots of food for sea mammals and birds. We went on a whale watching trip and saw some grey whales. More exciting for Connor and I was seeing our first albatross, a Black-footed Albatross. We also saw Sooty Shearwaters, Rhinoceros auklets and common murres.
On land, we saw our first Snowy Plovers, Wrentits, Oak Tits, Nutall's woodpeckers and a fly-by of Red-masked Parakeets. We got our first good look at Surfbirds and a Pacific Golden Plover. We utilized the leave the cameras at home theory to get our first good views of a Red-shouldered hawk so sorry, no pictures of it!
We saw over 115 species overall, many which do not come to Canada. Another interesting creature we saw was the Velella velella. This is a small Hydrozoa that floats on the ocean and has a small “sail” that propels it across the ocean. Under the water, small tentacles hang down that filter feed. We arrived during a strong northwest wind and thousands of these had been blown on shore. When we went whale watching , we saw them on the water.
South of Monterey is the famous Pacific Highway 1 and Big Sur coastline, considered by some as the most dramatic coast in the lower 48.
Here are some facts about the Monterey Canyon from the Monterey Bay Aquarium website
Main channel extends to over 470 kilometers (292 miles) offshore
Canyon is 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) across at its widest point
Canyon walls reach up 1,700 meters (5,580 feet) high
Main channel continues into the Monterey Deep Sea Fan at depths below 3,000 meters (1.8 miles)
The canyon ends at a depth greater than 4,000 meters (2.5 miles) on the abyssal
Here are a few of the birds we saw.
Click on photos to see full size
Stay Well
