Humpback whales lunge feeding on the Central Coast

A massive humpback whale, got up close and personal with a whale watching boat in the Monterey Bay this past weekend.

Whales have been pretty active these past couple of weeks but one got a little too close.

Nancy Black with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch said, “People were like screaming, you know just trying to get a photo of it. You have to be quick when that happens.”

Black said it’s not often they come that close. You can see humpback whales virtually all year long in the Monterey Bay. But these past couple weeks have been extra special.

“Well it’s the fish. You know we don’t know how that happens. It’s unpredictable but for some reason there is lots of anchovies and they are small, so they just reproduce,” said Black.

And all this action gets Black’s co-captain very excited. “Woof,” said Hanna, Nancy’s dog.

Black said humpback whales eat 1 to 2 tons of fish per day. And when the supply meets the demand, these large mammals show up.

Naturalist, Kara Hall said, “Just humpbacks going crazy. Just eating tons and tons of anchovies every single day. We’ve been seeing them lunge feeding really not too far from the harbor.”

With the bay being this magical, Kara said it’s never a struggle coming into work. Now you don’t have to be on a boat to see the whales. With some good visibility, you can sometimes see them from shore.