Humpback whales reach lengths of 50 to 55 ', are dark in color with distinctive nodules on their rostrum, and have pectoral flippers that are nearly a third of their body length. Current population estimates for Humpback whales off California conducted by Cascadia Research Collective indicate there are about 800 whales in this population. All whales have been photo-identified by natural markings and coloration on the underside of the tail fluke. From this photo-identification work, the migratory movements, calving intervals, association patterns, and population estimates can be determined for these whales.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE Humpback whales: Humpback whales are in the Monterey Bay area to feed and they often shift to feeding various locations depending on prey density. Humpbacks are often observed lunge feeding near the surface or deep diving for prey that is concentrated several hundred feet deep. This whale is the most animated of all the baleen whales, and they are often seen breaching, spyhopping, pectoral fin slapping, tail lobbing and.
Humpback whales are often seen from the highway turnouts throughout Big Sur. At the Junction of Partington Ridge and Highway One there is a deep canyon where the Submarine Humpback whales are seen on a regular basis.
In recent years, many different Humpback whales in this population often approachs boats for "friendly" Encounters. When engaging in this "friendly" behavior, a whale will often circle the boat, rub up against it, spyhop within several feet of the boat, roll on its side and extend its pectoral angeltje toward the boat, and often tilt its head with an eye open, appearing to look up at the boat and people on board. This phenomenon has been increasing each year, probably because this new generation of whales that have never known whaling are becoming curious about boats, and they often stay for several hours investigating our boat. This is totally contact initiated by the whales.
source:http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org
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