California Marine Mammal Assortment

 We saw quite a few different marine mammals in California and want to share a few highlights in a single post. Starting off, Grey Whales were making their annual migration from Mexico to the Arctic and all along the coastal highway we could see the puffs of their breath as small groups passed us by. Kathryn was quite delighted to look for them for hours and while they were hard to photograph or see very closesly, it was enthralling to look out for their plumes of exhalation. This was a new species for us both and an exciting opportunity.

 We have seen Sea Otters in the Aquarium numerous times, but both hoped to maybe catch a glimpse of one in the distance. They are very rare in B.C. so we assumed they would be rare elsewhere, but in California they seem to be doing just fine. We saw groups of them at least half a dozen times, including this heap of mothers with sleeping babies on their tummies all rafted in kelp near Monterey.

California Sea Lions were certainly the easiest of all our marine mammals to spot as they congregate in large numbers on piers and beaches across the state. They also grunt at each other 24/7 so they are pretty easy to locate but still very charming to see them lounge around on land or dash about in the water.