Tag Archives: pelagic trip

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Shari Goforth headed out in two weeks ago on a Saturday for a pelagic trip out of Noyo Harbor on The Kraken along with 24 other seafarers. Many on board were birders, excited to see different kinds of petrels, albatrosses, skua and terns. Shari is mostly on the trip to spot whales. A blue whale was seen and Pacific white-sided dolphins. And humpbacks! Shari wrote, “It was a gray day, so here are a few photos that are not fogged-in. We were about from eight miles from the red and white whistle buoy outside Noyo Harbor when we encountered a group of humpback whales.”

Look at the green light on the water on the lower right. It's the sun reflected on the whale's body that is underwater. Shari says they can often see a whale before it spouts by noting this green reflection.

Shari got a clear photo of a distinctive fluke and she sent it in to Happy Whale to see if they had a previous identification of this particular whale. They did. Shari wrote, “That fluke is CRC-20332, Cascadia Research collective’s research number,  no nickname, first recorded off Baja 01-03-2022, the only sighting before our photo record on 08-17-2025."

Another photo is of a humpback rostrum showing the mouth nearly closed after a lunge feeding event with one other whale. The barnacles visible on the lower mandible pouch show their exposed cirri, the barnacles’ feeding appendages. Needless to say, it was a great trip!”

Thanks to Shari for allowing me to share her photos with you here. If you'd like to learn more about the pelagic trips out of Noyo Harbor, here is the link: http://noyopelagics.com

To be on their mailing list, you can sign up here: https://groups.io/g/Mendocino-Pelagics

The fog bank is smaller and a ways out over the ocean. Breezy sunny weather happening now!

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Ron LeValley was on a pelagic trip out of Fort Bragg when he spotted a Blue Whale. In the first photo the Blue Whale is surfacing.

Here you see the tiny dorsal fin. Since the Blue Whale is believed to be the largest animal ever to live on earth, it's rather ironic that the dorsal fin is so small.

The tail is big though!

What a thrill this must have been to be so close to this huge Blue Whale!

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photos with  you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

 

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Ron LeValley went on a pelagic trip out of Fort Bragg. He, and the others with him, did not see many birds, but they did see two Blue whales quite close to their boat. In the first photo, the whale had just spouted. And in the second photo the big whale is descending.

blue-whale-off-fort-bragg-by-ron-levalley blue-whale-came-close-to-our-boat-by-ron-levalleyTo see a Blue whale, the largest creature of them all, is incredibly exciting. Here are three photos Ron took a few years ago, also on a pelagic trip. The first shows you a blow, the second shows the Blue whale's tiny dorsal fin, and the last shows you a Blue whale's tail.

blue-whale-spout-by-ron-levalley a-blue-whales-small-dorsal-fin-by-ron-levalley blue-whales-tale-by-ron-levalleyUnless you are at the Farallon Islands/Cordell Banks, you are not likely to see more than two Blue whales at a time. They very rarely breach, like Gray whales and Humpback whales do; they are just too big.

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

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Ron LeValley was on a pelagic trip off of Fort Bragg when this Humpback whale spectacularly breached.

Humpback Whale offshore from Fort Bragg by Ron LeValleySummer is the time we are more likely to see Humpbacks, but they have been seen in greater numbers off the California coast this year. Here is a photo Ron took on a previous pelagic trip. The Humpback came up right next to the boat and was looking at him!

Humpback Whale looking at me by Ron LeValleyI sure would like to know what the Humpback was thinking when it saw Ron and his camera.

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

Ron also has a near-daily photo email list you can subscribe to and, just like mine, it's free!