San Francisco Whale Tour Encounters, Like, 50 Humpbacks

​Last week, as a San Francisco Whale Tours boat cruised into the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, a humpback whale surfaced in the distance. Then a spout of water, presumably from its blow hole, shot high into the air.

Wynne and Perry Moore, a tourist couple from Dallas on board, found this pretty great and whipped out their cameras. At that point, they had no idea that their vessel, a 65-foot catamaran, was surrounded by about 50 massive sea beasts.
 
​As the captain reduced the Kitty Kat's speed and shifted into neutral, passengers began to notice black backs rising on either side of their boat, and what looked like geysers shooting up in every direction. Some of the whales began lunging at surface, mouths agape. Others were rolling around, showing off their pectoral flippers.

"You couldn't look anywhere and not see whales," said Wynne Moore. When whales began coming in closer to the boat, she could smell their rotten fish breath. Then captain informed everyone that whales were also swimming beneath them. We're about to be whale food, Wynne Moore thought to herself.
The whales were in fact feeding on nearby schools of small fish. Humpbacks, an endangered species of baleen whale, migrate to the food-rich waters around the Farallon Islands from Baja California, Mexico, and the Revillagigedo Islands each year. But it's rare to see so many at once, said Sarah Allen, a science advisor with the National Park Service.

"They are seen almost every day of the week during the summer and fall off of Point Reyes Headlands," she said. "Fifty would be significant to see at one time."

Carol Keiper, an marine ecologist and naturalist on board (who has been leading trips to the Gulf of the Farallones for more than 20 years) said it was amazing to see a feeding event of that magnitude. "They appeared to be working together in small groups of twos and threes, and larges groups of 10 to 15 to capture their prey," she said. "What a great privilege and thrill to be in the company of these magnificent whales!"

​After they arrived back in Texas, the Moores agreed that the experience sated their desire to see whales, and that trying to replicate it would only lead to disappointment. "We never want to go on another whale watch," Wynne Moore said.

Photos   |   courtesy of Wynne Moore