The whale population is different from month to month. The monsters of Summer - Blues and Finbacks usually arrive in July and stick around into the fall. Humpbacks seem to be here most of the time, but we see them most often in summer and fall, too. The Grays - crusty with barnacles - visit us in transit to and from their Mexican breeding grounds in spring and winter. Other whales, including the small Minke and Orcas are unpredictable and make appearances when we're least expecting whale action.
The personality champ is the Humpback. They're showoffs and for reasons science can only guess at, launch themselves, sometimes getting their enormous bodies entirely clear of the water. If you see that, and miss the picture, grab your camera anyway because it's likely that she'll do it again and do it pretty soon.
Finwhales or Finbacks are second in size to the Blue. The Blues seem shy or at best are oblivious to us, but the Finbacks behave like enormous dolphins, intercepting our boat and swimming alongside and doing whale tricks for an hour or more. See our most recent
Finback Video
and read our commentary on the blog.
BLOG Commentary
Humpbacks
These are pics of a Humpback whale and her calf taken in May 2006 on the SW side of Santa Cruz Island, about 1.5 miles SW of Forney's Cove.
Just Missed the Whale
I've taken tons of these whale pictures. More precisely "just-missed-the-whale pictures" But this lady gave me chance after chance as she effortlessly - or so it would appear - launched herself skyward. Nevertheless, half the digital roll is nothing more than cascades of water.
One-whale Ballet
She put on a one-whale ballet that lasted 30 minutes and included at least 20 spectacular leaps.
Her first leap was about half a mile from us. She seemed to be on a parallel course. We closed to about a quarter mile and steadied up parallel to her. She frolicked for quite awhile, moving out and then back in.
She'd disappear for a couple of minutes in a dive sequence, then leap clear of the water. We were struggling upwind, making 5 knots or so and she just danced around us.
Below, she's seen swimming with her calf. That's all we saw of the calf - just an occasional fluke when momma decided to stop flying.
How often do we see this?
Not very. But on this particular long-weekend, we saw whales each day and each day they logged a good bit of time airborne.
At the north end of the Santa Cruz Channel we turned east and she kept heading northwest.
She hadn't seen too interested in us,
but I like to think she's waving good-bye in this picture.
Other Marine Mammals
We see Common Pacific Dolphins and Striped Dolphins almost every cruise to the islands and usually see the much larger Rizzo's Dolphins as well. And there has never been a time when we haven't encountered fleets of cavorting sea lions and seals lounging on the beaches.
Gray Whale wiki;
photos Dec to Jan, they're southbound, typically near the islands as they pass our home.
Feb to Apr, they're northbound, mothers and calves most likely near shore in April.
Photos:
Map:
Video: click the play icon, or, to view a larger version click here
Photos:
Map: 
Video: click the play icon, or, to view a larger version 
Links: