Tuesday July 16, 2024
Sacramento Bee —
One of the rarest possible sightings in Monterey Bay, California is that of a sperm whale, the gigantic ocean predator depicted in Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”.
But on July 14, for the first time in nearly eight years, whale watchers with Monterey Bay Whale Watch spotted one. Just above the surface of the water was that distinctively small dorsal fin and gigantic head.
A sperm whale was swimming near the boat.
“We hit the whale watching jackpot!!” the northern California organization said about the sighting. “Finding a sperm is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
In a video posted by MBWW, the gray predator can be seen gliding at the ocean’s surface, exhaling through a blowhole on the left side of its curved head. Then, its tail comes out of the water and lowers back down as the creature commences another dive.