Festive Two

Pirate Dreams

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Ultimate Beach Party Scene, Otaria Z. californianus

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Otaria Z. californianus

California Sea Lions enjoying the

Ultimate Beach Party Scene

This sea lion harem doesn't need to slather on the #50 sunblock I would need if I were going to hang out with them in this perfect fantasy of a California beach day. Not for them the importance of personal space. They prefer the flipper to squid-smelling-jaw safety of absolutely sisterly closeness.

I didn't realize until recently that sea lions can, and do, live in fresh water for short periods of time. They have been spotted snacking on salmon as far as 200 miles up the Colombia River.

My idea of the perfect beach-going lunch to share with this truly comradely bunch of girls?

Sea-Lion Favorite Monterey Bay Sandwiches

* Fresh sourdough baguette

(just tear it with your flippers)

smeared with

* Artichoke and Cream Cheese Spread (Trader Joes has a good one)

* Thinly sliced japanese cucumber marinated in some rice wine vinegar for a couple of hours

(the girls on the beach would probably prefer SEA cucumbers)

* Slivers of smoked salmon

(the gals might prefer theirs raw)

Some sparkling lemonade for me and some brined bubbly for my friends

(photo altered with Photoshop CS4, photocopy over dry brush filters)

Megaptera novaeangliae, At Home in a Larger World

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Cordata (vertebrates)

Class Mammalia (mammals)

Order Cetacea

Sub-order Mysticeti (baleen whales)

Family Balaenopteridae

Genus Megaptera

Species novaeangliae

Common Name - Humpback Whale

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What am I in a humpback's world? Does she concern herself with the idea that there is life aboard the noisy machines that invades her feeding grounds? Are we something beyond a gust of bubbles and a funny oily smell? Is somebody bigger than a brontosaur, aware of me as a fellow-creature, a presence or with any kind of interest?

I encountered this gal as she was feeding out in the Monterey Bay. We also saw a minke and four distant blue whales, that looked like low-rising dark rocks coming out of the distant bay waters. These are both rare sights. But the humpbacks were all around us. They were lunge feeding, rolling on there sides, flipping their tails up and down, and so close we could hear their glorious trumpet breathing and smell the krill-laden breath that hovered over the water after they dove back down for more underwater chupas.

The krill are populating the bay in higher than normal numbers right now, so there are an awful lot more whales there than we would normally see at this time of the year. Our boat captain said we made forty sightings, of humpbacks. Here’s a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle about this unusual chance to see so many whales.