The Wild American West: Monterey Bay

Showing posts with label Monterey Bay. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2016

Heermann's Gull

Heermann's Gull -- Pacific Grove,. CA

If you know me you know I don't like taking pictures of gulls very much. It's not that I don't like gulls, it's just that they're so damned hard to identify. Not so with heermann's gulls, though. They're easy and they're pretty. Love these guys.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 157, image #5311.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

A Whale's Tail

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

Tough to beat seeing a whale in real life as far as wildlife sightings go. It's pretty much a guarantee on whale watching tours in Monterey Bay. That doesn't diminish things, at least in my book.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Whale's Spout

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 400

It's kind of tough to get shots of whales spouting unless there are a couple close together like in this picture. It's usually the spout that catches the eye and by the time the camera is ready the spouting is done.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Whale's Tail

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 2000

What is it about the whale's tail that makes it so interesting? Why is it so much more fun to see a whale's tail than its blow hole?

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Humpback Whale

I went on a whale watching excursion yesterday. We saw about twenty humpback whales. We saw a couple of whales breach one a couple of hundred yards away and the other much further off. In most cases we could only see a small portion of the whale at any given moment. This series of photos gives pretty good idea of what the whale looks like, at least the upper half.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Friday, September 4, 2015

A Humpback's Hump

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 1250

The warm weather has driven the whales close to shore this year. No need to get in a boat to see these fantastic creatures, although I'll probably get out for an excursion this weekend. If I'm lucky I might even see some killer whales. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 127, image #0057.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Seal on Line

Harbor Seal -- Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/4.5, 1/800s, ISO: 6400

Poor little guy. Gal? Poor little gal, maybe.

I didn't realize the drama that was going on when I was taking these photos. I thought this seal was just being frisky because the fishing was so good. Turns out he/she was caught on a fishing line. That seriously bummed me out when I was processing these photos Saturday evening.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

I saw a few humpback whales in Monterey Bay yesterday. I was actually hoping to go on a whale watching excursion but they were all cancelled in the afternoon due to high winds. You can see in the photos the water is pretty choppy. I shot these from shore near Lucas Point in Pacific Grove. No single shoot is all that interesting but I think they make a fun series. These are the final photos from a longer series that start from when I spotted his spout.