Banderas Bay Whales Field Research Survey in Monterey Bay - Join Them! Oscar Frey - Deep Blue Conservancy | |
September 15, 2014 |
Humpbacks Chase Killer Whales Right Under Our Boat (Kate Spencer)
Ocean Friendly Tours and Deep Blue Conservancy of Banderas Bay, Vallarta-Nayarit will be conducting a field research survey in Monterey Bay, California from October 7th to October 10th, 2014.
We would like to invite you as member of our Ocean Friendly family to join us on a fascinating journey to one of the feeding grounds of the very same Humpback whales that you’ve come to know off Puerto Vallarta over the many years you’ve shared with us.
There will be one trip each day on a state-of-the-art zodiac designed for high performance in offshore waters. It is a very comfortable boat with excellent stability, great seating, upgraded engines and outstanding safety equipment and instrumentation.
These trips are exclusive to our Ocean Friendly family and only four passengers are invited for each of the days that we’ll all be heading out to explore the extremely different behaviors and acoustical vocalizations of the Humpbacks in their feeding grounds.
While on board, you’ll be part of the research team as we continue to collect fluke-identifications and document the behavior and acoustical differences during this part of their migration.
The trips will depart from Moss Landing Public Harbor at 8am or 9am depending on the date and will return approximately at 1pm daily.
The cost and itineraries of the trips are:
• October 7th, 8th and 9th, $185.00 USD per person, 5 hours tour.
• October 10th, $160.00 USD per person, 4 hour tour.
The trips include:
- 4 to 5 hours of pure whale watching delight!!!
- Highly qualified and certified crew members
- Marine Biologist and Naturalists as guides
- Self inflatable, hydrostatic life vests, specifically designed for offshore activities
- Waterproof windbreaker jackets and pants
- Dry bags to protect camera equipment and clothing, etc.
Also included, in this unique experience, we will be bringing our hydrophone equipment so that we may document and enjoy the acoustic beauty of the vocalizations of the Humpback whales.
We’ll also provide purified water, snack bars and fruit, available through the trip.
We will relate to you the differences and similarities of Banderas Bay and Monterey Bay. You will receive an overview of how the Humpback whales use different parts of the marine environment to ensure their survival as a species. We will describe the migratory life cycles of the Humpback whales that inhabit the coastal Eastern North Pacific waters between Mexico and British Columbia and relate their natural history with the geological development of the basins of Banderas Bay, Sea of Cortez and central California, including the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon.
If you would like to be part of this unique exploration experience, please contact us at ofrey@oceanfriendly.com or feel free to call us on our Mexican or our US phone numbers you will find at the bottom of this message.
It is important to point out that we are not profiting at all from these tours. Please feel free to purchase your tickets directly at the Fast Raft Ecotours website. You can go directly to their booking page here.
On this link you see that most of their tours are only three hours in length. However, the tours offered for October 7th - 11th are longer to provide our guests a more comprehensive understanding of the Humpback whale behaviors it this particular environment.
If you are staying for one or two nights there is a charming hotel at Monterey called the SpinDrift Inn, it is conveniently located close to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This a five-star hotel.
A more affordable option might be the Borg’s Ocean Front Inn in Pacific Grove.
If you prefer to stay at a home or vacation unit for a few days, we recommend you look for a vacation rental unit with Monterey Rentals. It is the agency we usually use when we rent something for ourselves.
If you are looking for a private home or vacation unit, available for rent per night of stay, you can find it at Vacation Rentals By Owner.
There will be one tour daily and you can join us for just one tour or every day of the entire week that we’ll be conducting our field research.
The tours are booking quickly, we hope to share this extended experience with you and look forward to welcoming you on board!
Receive my warmest tropical regards,
Oscar Frey, Oceanologist
Deep Blue Conservancy / Chief Researcher
ofrey@OceanFriendly.com
+52 (322) 225-3774 Mexico
(858) 605-6463 USA Vonage Line
Note: The above video was filmed on August 24, 2014. Incredible close encounter when orcas dive under the Fast Raft in Monterey Bay and humpbacks slash their tail flukes at the predators. This interaction went on for about 45 minutes as up to 11 agitated humpbacks swarmed the area where the family of killer whales were finishing off a sea lion carcass. We've seen this kind of interaction between humpbacks and killer whales before both in Monterey Bay (BBC filmed it, 2012) and in Antarctica, and it has been documented by several observers. That doesn't mean we can fully explain it! Like crows mobbing hawks, the humpbacks might just be harassing their primary predator. Filmed by Captain & Naturalist Kate Spencer (katespencer.com), skipper of the Fast Raft (fastraft.com), on a 6-hour whale watching tour from Moss Landing, California, with visiting researchers from Deep Blue Conservancy and Ocean Friendly Whale Watching in Banderas Bay, Mexico.
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From activities like hiking, swimming, bike riding and yoga, to restaurants offering healthy menus, Vallarta-Nayarit is the ideal place to continue - or start - your healthy lifestyle routine.