Whale Watching on Labor Day

Labor Day week-end is one of the rare long week-ends in the US. It's the equivalent of our May 1st. What can you do on the third day of your long week-end? Get up early, obviously 6:30am, drive 1h to Monterey, get on a boat and go whale watching!
After the elephant seals in San Simeon and the sea lions in San Francisco now we're getting serious: whales and dolphins!
We had a good start as already in the harbor seeing some sea lions and even one sea otter.

Proud sea lion

Sea Otter (trust me somewhere in the fur)

Many, many, many sea lions

After lots of sea lions the boat headed toward deeper waters. The Monterey submarine canyon happens to be located close to the shore allowing people to see deep-water species of whales, dolphins and seabirds near the coast. At least that's what they promise.

On the boat you have to look out for 3 things:
- the blow of a whale (best indication there is a whale under) and usually visible from far away

- the footprint of a whale (i.e. an area of water that is still, almost like oil on water)

- whale's poop, no kidding, usually some reddish floating thing (i.e. a whale was really nearby). As any poop, it stinks pretty bad (which means you can also use your nose to locate a whale).
You could also see the back of the whale directly but that requires a bit more luck.

Taking pictures of whales or any other sea creature is a BIG challenge. Not only you are on a boat that does not stand still but on top the creature you are trying to get is moving as well. Consequence, a lot of bits and pieces of whales on the pictures. Not to mention that whales unlike dolphins do not jump (they do but rarely) and all you get to see is their back.
Ladies and Gentlemen, my collection of whales' backs :)
Blue whale

Humpback whale:

We even were fortunate enough to see one whale doing a "jump":

Given the challenge of getting a good picture of a whale (blue or humpback), after some unsuccessful trials, I decided to give up and simply enjoy the show. I'd rather watch the whales and remember them than stressing about getting the right picture and missing the show, which is by the way unbelievable. I still can't believe I saw so many whales in one day (and not in an aquarium).

On the way back we cam across dolphins. Hundreds of themnicely jumping around the boat. Dolphins are fun creatures and they like to play. They jump all around the boat, extremely fast. They are really putting a show for us.

PS1: For the first time in my life (at least that I recall) I got sick on a boat. Strangely when we were going fast and jumping pretty hard on the waves I was fine. When the boat was slowing down of even "stop" just bouncing on the wave it was getting bad. Main reason was the smell of the fuel at the back of the boat. At some point I got a full blast of it and felt my stomach turning around. Next thing I know I was puking overboard. I'm so ashamed (for a Brittany girl). Sad consolation, I was not the only one.
PS2: strangely some people brought their dog with them on the boat. Question: do dogs get sea-sick? no idea but I can tell you that dog didn't look happy after a while.