Baby Humpack Whale Breaching

A young humpback whale erupts from Monterey Bay just off Moss Landing, seawater streaming from its dark skin as one long pectoral fin drags through the churning surface. Pale clusters of barnacles crust its chin and the front of its snout, and a single seabird crosses the frame above it. The riprap breakwater, sandy beach and low harbor buildings sit only a short distance behind, a reminder of how close these animals come to shore here. Whales feed within sight of the beach because the head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon reaches to within a few hundred meters of the sand, bringing deep, cold, prey-filled water almost onto the shoreline.

A young whale like this one arrives with the feeding grounds still to learn. Humpback calves are born at around four to five meters long in the warm waters off Mexico and Central America, then swim north with their mothers to California while still nursing. Tagging work in Monterey Bay recorded calves suckling on the feeding grounds in bursts averaging just 23 seconds, and caught one calf making its own foraging lunge, learning the work of the northern feeding season while still dependent on its mother.

The whales that feed off California belong to populations that remain federally protected after decades of recovery, the Central America group as endangered and the Mexico group as threatened. Entanglement in crab fishing gear and collisions with ships are the leading threats they face in these waters.