One of the best places to see this beautiful fall transition is in central Alaska’s Denali National Park.  This six million acre park was established in 1917 to protect the populations of large mammals living in the shadow of North America’s tallest mountain, Mount McKinley.  This towering peak is also known by its aboriginal name, Denali, meaning “the High One” in the language of the Athabascan native people.

The Alaskan Range

The subarctic wilderness in Denali National Park is cloaked with a wide variety of plants, specially adapted to surviving the long and bitterly cold winters.  The high grounds support flowering plants as well as many species of mosses, lichens, fungi, and algae. Along the rivers and valleys there is scant tree growth.  These sparsely treed regions are known as taiga.  Drier areas are populated by white and black spruce, quaking aspen, paper birch, larch, and baslam poplar.  Moist regions grow sedges and cottongrass as well as willows and alders.

A total of 37 species of mammals live in the park as well as 156 species of birds.  The park’s “big 5” are the grizzly bear, wolf, caribou, moose and Dall’s sheep.  Four of the animals are widely distributed through the park and are commonly seen.  Wolves are smaller in numbers and are much harder to spot.

Caribou in the Colorful Foliage

During the short autumn season, the park’s caribou herds begin to migrate westward across the park.  These herds are vulnerable to packs of wolves as well as grizzly bears that are trying to pack on precious fat reserves in order to weather the coming winter.  One herd of caribou that I saw passing trough a low valley was thrown into a panic when they caught the scent of a grizzly perched high on a ridge above the dry river bed.  Growth of the males’ antlers peaks in autumn.  These imposing weapons allow the males to battle for control of harems of females for mating.

Moose spend the autumn months foraging on the colorful willows that carpet the low areas of the park.  This season is the rutting time for moose.  Large males will tend to control harems of females while groups of younger males move together.  Some of the females are accompanied with calves, born in the preceding spring.  The calves grow quickly and leave the mother’s care with the birth a new calf in the following spring.

Moose in the Willows

Moose are active in the brisk, early morning hours and move deeper into the brush to rest during the middle hours of the day.  Many moose can be seen along the first 15 miles of the park road where public vehicles are allowed to drive.  The moose feed in the willows that line the roadside but it is important to arrive in the cold morning twilight as the rising sun soon sends these animals back into cover.

Between 12 and 18 packs of grey wolves live in the park, totally about 100 animals, but they are uncommonly seen.  Each pack has an average of eight to ten members but the largest pride recorded in the park had 27 wolves.

Alpha Wolf in Profile

The wolves hunt in groups and share food amongst members of the pack.  They hunt up to 10 hours a day in order to obtain the two to four kilograms of meat that each member need each day to survive.  These flexible hunters will stalk mice and ground squirrels as well as larger prey such as caribou, Dall’s sheep and moose.

Grizzly bears in Denali National Park are omnivorous but primarily subsist on berries and other vegetation.  As a result, these bears are smaller than other coastal brown bears in Alaska that live on a rich diet of salmon.  As a result of their leaner diet, grizzly cubs in Denali National Park usually live with their mothers for a longer period before striking out on their own.

While these bears eat primarily vegetation, they are ever ready to hunt and play a significant role culling the herds of caribou, sheep and moose.  On one visit to the park, I saw a mother grizzly and her grown cubs attacking a beaver lodge hoping to feast on the beaver.  Two bears dug at the top of the lodge while another waited at the exit of the lodge hoping to ambush the escaping beaver.  Fortunately for the beaver, lodges have more than one exit and it was able to escape while the bears were still attacking the lodge with vigor.

Grizzly and Cubs

Photographic opportunities in the park are spectacular in the colorful autumn days.  Denali National Park is a large and beautiful park with many large animals.  However, in such an expansive park, the animals range widely requiring extensive travel to find the best opportunities.  Further, the park is admirably operated by the US Parks Service.  With a tremendous number of annual human visitors, the Parks Service does a very commendable job of keeping the park wild and preventing close interaction between the visitors and the wild inhabitants.  This is a critically important role of the officials but it makes wildlife photography difficult.

This area of the Amazon is under constant threat from deforestation, bush meat hunting and habitat destruction brought about through the actions of major international oil and gas companies. As oil exploration extends into the forest, roads are cut to provide access.  These roads allow easy transportation into and out of the deepest reaches of the forest.  Along with the increased human presence and drilling activities, the roads allow locals to exploit bush meat on a larger scale to make money.  More and more animals are hunted and brought out of the forest using the roads for sale at urban markets.  Furthermore, large fires burn day and night at oil facilities and these act as massive signal fires killing thousand if not millions of insects every night.  The lose of biodiversity and possibly environmental balance is as staggering as it is sad.

Squirrel Monkey

The lodge was created in 2003 through the combined efforts of the local, indigenous Anangu Quichua Community and international sponsors.  Prior to the creation of the lodge, the Anangu people were extremely poor.  The tribes people had to travel many miles in order to earn small wages to support their families.  This greatly impacted tribal life, as many of the adults had to spend large amounts of time far from their families.  With the help of international benefactors, these people used the best local knowledge and the best eco-sensitive technology to create a means of showing outsiders the wonders of the Amazon in a low impact way, while helping the people to protect their local environment.  The international interests kindly gave over ownership of the venture and today it is 100% owned and operated by the people from the nearby village.  The resulting lodge is beautiful, welcoming and extremely well operated.  The guides and staff are extremely friendly and welcoming, and the facilities are luxurious.  These people demonstrate a deep love of the area and its inhabitants.  They apply strict rules to keep the tourist activities from having significant impact on the animals living around the area.

Parrots, Parakeets and Parrotlets

Each day, I was woken by the haunting calls of troupes of nearby howler monkeys.  After eating, we set out under the cover of darkness in dugout canoes to explore the surrounding forest by water.  A myriad of tropical birds live in the surrounding trees while troupes of squirrel monkeys wind their way across the tree canopy above.  Down the river, a short paddle away, large, mixed, flocks of colorful parrots, parakeets, and parrotlets feed on clay deposits which help to detoxify chemicals found in the seeds that make up their diet.  Along the way to these clay deposits, a local farm provides habitat for groups of tiny pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkeys.  These tiny primates live in large family groups, high in the trees.  In the tree canopy, these monkeys feed on insects, small reptiles and fruit. However, they are more easily photographed when they descend, burrowing small holes in the tree bark to feed on sap which forms a large proportion of their diet.

The lucky visitor has opportunity to spot small groups of giant otters that fish in the side streams near the lodge.  Around Lake Anangu, these otters appear to be very shy near the boats and the ethics of the local guides forbid following them if they choose to flee.

Spiny Spider

Later at night, there is opportunity to head out onto the lake with hand-held lights to spot the glowing eyes of black caimans in the water.  Although these relatives of the crocodile grow to large size, I saw only small juveniles during my forays out into the darkness.  Larger caimans hunt large mammals, but these young juveniles mostly hunt small fish such as piranhas, catfish, and perch.

There are many opportunities to spot monkeys, otters and birds, but, any trip to the Amazon is woefully incomplete without stopping to appreciate the smallest inhabitants of the region.  The insect life hiding on and under the low lying foliage is incredible in its variety and imaginative manifestations.  Many species of bats sleep along tree trunks during the day and hunt fish and insects under the cover of night.

The Amazon is one of the truly great wonders of the natural world.  Every nature lover must visit this region at some point in their life.  The threats to the survival of the great forest grow every year.

Black Caiman

It is heart warming to meet local people who are committed to working toward the survival of this fragile environment.  The Anangu people are now meeting with other local peoples to teach them to build and run their own ecotourism operations.  As more local groups commit to such ventures, hopefully the tide will turn from exploiting the forest for bush meat, oil exploration and farm land and turn to towards sustaining the forest for future generations.  I encourage you to support such ventures if you plan to visit the Amazon.  Travelers can make a difference through such educated choices.  The Napo Wildlife Lodge is highly in demand so I recommend that you book early, very early.  More information about the lodge can be found at their website http://www.napowildlifecenter.com/index.html.

Humbled Before Nature

An elephant and her young baby wander across the Masai-Mara plains at sunset, as the afternoon storm lifts overhead.

Sky Descends

Ominous clouds mark the sky as a small, family group of elephants prepares to weather the dangers of another African night on the plains.

Ominous Skies

A building afternoon storm rises in the African sky behind a gnarled Acacia tree.  These heavily thorned trees are part of the quintessential African scene.

Drawing Together

Groups of grazers draw together for warmth and protection in advance of the coming storm.  Mixed herds like these help to protect the individuals from the many predators.

Mara Wildebeests

A herd of wildebeests grazes on the Mara plains, apparently indifferent to the approaching rains.

Moving Before the Storm

A pair of topis moving across the plains as thunder clouds gather in the sky.

Acacia Under Stormy Skies

An acacia tree is framed against storm clouds and falling rains in the distance.

]]> http://markenarson.com/?feed=rss2&p=1030 http://markenarson.com/?p=1009 http://markenarson.com/?p=1009#comments Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:13:09 +0000 Mark http://markenarson.com/?p=1009 The close presence of predators is a daily reality for many animals throughout the world. Humans have insulated themselves from this reality by building up cities and pushing predators back into smaller and smaller natural spaces. As a result, we have lost our sense of the natural order and we are shocked and angered when one of our own falls to a predator. However, during winter at Seal Island, this primal struggle between predator and prey is a simple daily reality that plays out in spectacular fashion every morning.

Cape fur seals occupy this small island, near the foot of South Africa’s False Bay, year round. Their numbers rise and fall with the influx and departure of breeding age adults and the birth of new pups. Adult males return to the island in late October each year to compete for harems of females. The breeding females return soon after the males and give birth to pups conceived during the previous year. Within days of giving birth, the females mate again. The newborn pups are about 75 centimeters long and weigh only five or six kilograms.

Cape Fur Seal Porpoising off Seal Island

At about six months of age, the growing pups will join the older fur seals in taking to the sea in search of solid food. Around the island, the fur seals hunt for small cat sharks, octopuses and crustaceans. But, much of their fishing takes place as much as 50 kilometers out into the southern ocean. This trip to the pelagic fishing grounds demands amazing survival skills from these small fur seals, for to reach the open ocean, they must survive passage through a gauntlet of hunting white sharks.

The white sharks that gather around the island target the youngest seals. Adult male fur seals reach lengths of 2.7 meters and weights of 350 kilograms. Females are slightly smaller at two meters of length and 100 kilograms. At these sizes, the powerful adult fur seals are not much smaller than the white sharks. Armed with ferocious teeth and claws, the adult Cape fur seals are dangerous for the white sharks and they wisely focus on the smaller young seals.

Cape Fur Seals at Dawn

Although small and naive, the young of the year fur seals are far from helpless. They are fast and agile with keen senses to detect approaching predators. The sharks are also well designed for the hunt with incredible speed, deceptive agility and remarkable senses. The strategies of the predator and prey are fashioned to counter the behavior of their adversary. Obviously the seals must get out to their feeding grounds alive, while the sharks aim to capture seals with minimal energy expenditure and risk of injury.

Seals leaving the island gather near the southern extreme of the island under the cover of darkness, joining up into groups to strike out together. The night time departure helps to cloak the seals from the visually hunting sharks. By gathering into large groups, the seals benefit from many eyes looking out for sharks and the numerous porpoising bodies help to confuse the predator. As the groups depart, some seals porpoise out of the water while others swim upside down watching below for attacking sharks.

Cape Fur Seal near Seal Island

Once the seals reach the open water, beyond the hunting grounds of the white sharks, they disperse and hunt alone. Thus as the fur seals return from hunting, they typically do not benefit from the safety of the large group. Furthermore, while they can time their departure from the island with the relative safety of darkness, it is much more difficult to time their long return. As a result, some of the seals arrive back to the waters around Seal Island in the dangerous morning hours. The twilight of early morning is the preferred hunting time for the white sharks. During these hours, the low, early morning light does not penetrate far into the water column. Thus, the hunting sharks are difficult for returning seals to see. Conversely, the seals swimming above are back lit by the morning sun and quite visible to the keen eyesight of the white sharks.

White Shark Catches Seal in Midair

Older and stronger Cape fur seals minimize the risk of this dangerous return trip by swimming along the bottom. An adult male seal can make this final dive from as far as 800 meters from the island. Younger seals, however, lack the strength and lung capacity for such long dives. Thus, they must remain at the surface or return to the surface to breath in the danger zone near the island. This leaves them vulnerable to the sharks’ devastating attacks. Some of the youngest seals also appear naive to the dangers of swimming near the surface around Seal Island and swim the entire distance on the surface.

The Predator's View

Attacking white sharks aim to kill the seals in a single powerful strike. This minimizes both danger and energy cost to the attacker. The shark swims 12 to 14 meters below the surface until it spots a vulnerable seal and mounts a well timed, explosive strike. While the shark is much faster than the seal, it tires quickly. The seal is slower but it can sustain its top speed for a considerable time. Thus, stealth is essential for the shark. The initial strike is so powerful that it often sends the white shark sailing as much as three meters out of the water. If the seal can detect the striking shark it may be able to avoid the strike with remarkable agility. After an initial attack misses, the seal tries desperately to stay near the safety of the shark’s tail until the predator tires and moves on to new opportunities. For the survivor, the danger is not yet passed. The noise of the first attack may attract other sharks and some seals must survive several attacks in order to reach the safety of the rocks on Seal Island.

Cape Fur Seals at Play

Watching these predatory interactions, it is easy to forget that the seals are as young as six months of age. The agility and skills of both predator and prey are incredible. To watch a six month old seal acrobatically dueling with a three to four meter shark is awe inspiring. It is tempting to think of the young seals as courageous. But, this is not really accurate. They are simply living the life they were allocated. In order to feed, they must brave these attacks. It is simply their daily reality. Nevertheless, these young seals are amazing and admirable survivors. The white sharks are clearly the stars of this show. They are amongst the most amazing and powerful predators on the planet. However, one must not forget the seals. They are equal players in this predatory drama with incredible agility and survival instincts worthy of considerable admiration.

I had hoped to finish the book by late summer 2010.  However, in order to complete my travels I need to visit New Zealand.  The new dive site at Stewart Island has been slow to launch and thus I will have to wait until the early months of 2011 to complete this trip.  Thus, the book will be delayed until that can be completed.  Nevertheless, my main goal is for the book to be as good as possible so I will not rush.

In the meantime I visited Mexico to photograph the amazing sailfish.  A new gallery and article have now been posted on the site and I hope you will enjoy these.  I have also gotten around to writing and posting new articles that have been on my to do list forever.

In the coming months I will be returning to South Africa and Australia for further white shark adventures.  I will try to keep the website up to date with regards to these trips and maybe post a few photos.  Until then…

Atlantic Sailfish off Isla Mujeres

These spectacular fish gather off Isla Mujeres to hunt sardines.  Great schools of sardines move through the area at depth but group into tight balls when threatened by predators.  These balls are chased by the sailfish who dart into the ball of fish, slashing with their serrated bills, separating wounded fish from the group.  These wounded fish are then quickly picked off by the agile predators.  Occasionally these assaults separated small groups of sardines from the ball and then the action is explosive with multiple sailfish capturing the isolated fish.

While swimming calmly or chasing from a distance, the sailfish are sleek and silver with only a subtle hint of vertical stripes along their sides.  However, when excited, the sailfish raise their spectacular first dorsal fins (sails) and explode with color.  As they change color, flashes of purple and blue appear along the sail, with horizontal stripes of green along their flanks.  As the transformation completes, their bodies turn bronze, with vertical electric blue stripes along the sides.

Sailfish Attacks

In order to photograph these events, the crew of the boat will watch for groups of birds following a bait ball from above.  Upon finding and approaching a bait ball, the speed of the chase is considered.  Some pursuits are very fast and there is little sense in entering the water.  Generally, a bait ball with a slower pace is chosen.  The boat draws close to the bait ball and the photographers jump into the water with snorkels and fins.  It takes a moment for the bubbles to clear and to orient to the underwater surroundings.  In some cases the pursuit is coming past you as you enter.  In other cases, it is necessary to raise your head in order to locate the birds.  This gives you a direction to swim.  As you approach, the darting movements of the sailfish come into view.  Anywhere from a few to nearly one hundred sailfish can be found attacking a single bait ball.  Often, pursuing the bait ball means snapping a few photos before swimming with all you’ve got in an effort to keep up.  This may require returning to the boat and speeding forward for a new drop position for a few successive efforts.  Sometimes as the ball either splits or shrinks with more and more sardines falling prey, the pursuit will slow or even stop.  In these cases, the ball of sardines will swim back and forth or in circles, contained and surrounded by attacking sailfish.  These are the best opportunities for photos.

Sailfish in Excitement Coloration

Once the bait ball stops, the action can become intense around the divers.  Sardines separated from the group often seek shelter under and against the divers.  It is tense as the sailfish swim at arms length pursuing the sardines under and between divers.  On one occasion I had to duck as the sailfish’s bill went over my shoulder.  While there are moments of concern for your own safety, it is hard to not feel some sympathy for the terrified sardines as well.  On more than one occasion, I had a sardine bumping against my limbs are hiding under my camera housing as I swam in pursuit of the bait ball.  In one instance I was able to bring a sardine right back into the relative safety of the bait ball after it swam with me for ten minutes or so.

Wounded Sardines Attacked

Sea conditions and water clarity varied considerably from day to day and even from hour to hour.  Wind is a significant consideration during these months of the year and often the swells and wind waves filled our snorkels with unexpected gulps of sea water.  Backscatter provided another significant challenge.  This is the phenomenon where light from the camera strobes illuminates debris in the water producing the appearance of a snow storm.  The seemingly clear pelagic water was full of particles, including the scales of sardines killed by the gangs of sailfish.

It was an exhilarating experience and I hope that the photos communicate the beauty and drama of these events.  We were privileged to benefit from the expertise of the crew of Keen M International.  This company has played host to the world’s greatest underwater photographers and film crews.  Many dates are taken up by professional photographers, but inquires can be made at http://www.islamujeressportfishing.com/index.html.

Wild Moments
by Mark Enarson

As human civilization continues to advance, and wilderness retreats, truly wild moments become harder to find. This book by photographer Mark Enarson explores places where raw nature still exists as it has since before history was recorded. The book takes the reader to Alaska where huge bears hunt isolated streams for salmon; to the dark forests of the Amazon where life expresses itself in staggering diversity; to the Serengeti where more than a million wildebeest run a gauntlet of predators in their annual migration; and to the southern tip of Africa where massive white sharks hunt young seals each winter. Exploration of these wild places provides a better understanding of what makes these animals and their environments so special and in need of our protection.

10×8 inches
114 pages
100 lb text silk-finish paper featuring improved opacity and stellar image quality

Features new and adapted feature articles as well as over 130 of the top images to date from the Mark Enarson collection.

Available for order now from the Blurb.com bookstore.

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Long-billed Curlew in Reflection

Near the town of Moss Landing, the Elkhorn Slough is one of California’s largest wetlands winding in seven miles from the shoreline.  This reserve provides an important resting and feeding environment for a large variety of animal life including more than 340 species of birds.  The tidal marsh contains wading birds such as the black-necked stilt and long billed curlew which probe below the surface for aquatic invertebrates.  Larger birds such as egrets search for fish in the shallows while song birds like the red-winged blackbird perch from reeds.

Trips into the bay typically begin from further south in the city of Monterey.  From the boat docks at Fisherman’s Wharf boats travel out into the heart of the bay.  In these protected waters around the wharf, marine birds such as the Pacific loon paddle around and harbor seals sun themselves on exposed rocks.  Leaving the wharf, boats pass the breakwater covered in young male California sea lions and nesting Brandt’s cormorants.  In the springtime.  During the breeding season, Brandt’s cormorants develop a bright blue gular pouch below their bills which are unique amongst cormorants and fade quickly after the nesting season.  These cormorants are colonial nesters.  The male stakes out a nesting site and seeks to attract a female to it.  In attracting the female, the male cormorant performs an elaborate dance involving exaggerated wing postures and twisting of its neck.  Once paired up, the male and female cormorants will construct a nest made from seaweed, eelgrass and algae gathered from the surrounding waters.  The male gathers the supplies while the female builds the nest.  The nesting site is then protected by the pair acting in unison against surrounding cormorant pairs and even giving much larger sea lions a painful nip if necessary.

Sea Otter Eating a Crab

In the waters around the breakwater, sea otters dive for molluscs, crabs, and other small prey.  Molluscs are opened by smashing them against stones held on the otter’s belly as it slowly swims on its back.  Adult sea otters are the heaviest members of the weasel family but they are small for marine mammals leaving them particularly vulnerable to predators.  As a result, the otters prefer the protected waters of the marina or the kelp forests that lie close to shore.  In the spring, some female otters can be seen carrying their small babies on their bellies as they swim.  The sea otters gain protection from the cold from an exceptionally thick fur coat which is the densest in the animal kingdom.  This coat traps air and the resulting buoyancy is too much for the young babies to overcome so they can not dive under the water.  When danger approaches, the mother otter will grab the baby by the scruff of its neck and pull it under the water with her.  This buoyancy also allows the mother to leave a sleeping baby floating on the surface while she dives for food.

California Sea Lions

Around the corner of the breakwater, rafts of California sea lions bask in the water, regulating their body temperatures in the cold water by elevating a flipper above the surface to capture the warm sun rays.  While they rest along the breakwater and rocky shores, these sea lions hunt for fish out over the edge of the deep submarine canyon.  Depending on food availability, the sea lions may hunt alone or in large groups.  These groups provide a degree of protection to help watch out for predators such as transient orcas and white sharks that hunt these waters.  Out over the canyon, the sea lions can dive deep into the cold water slowing their heart rates to allow them to remain submerged for up to ten minutes before surfacing for rest and air.  The sea lions are often seen alongside whales, dolphins and sea birds hunting cooperatively on the large schools of bait fish.

Each spring and summer, bait fish thrive in the waters near the canyon as a result of the forces of upwelling.  Upwelling occurs when surface waters are heated by the sun and water layers stratify into warmer surface and cold deeper waters.  Winds blow the warm surface water offshore at a 90 degree difference to the prevailing wind and current direction due to the effects of the earth’s rotation.  As the warm, nutrient poor surface water is blown offshore, cold water rises from below carrying sediment up from the bottom.  The sediments carried by the cold water upwelling provide nutrients to phytoplankton resulting in blooms that feed zooplankton which are in turn eaten by small fish.  As a result, giant schools of small fish populate the waters over the canyon attracting larger predators.

Red-necked Phalarope

The first animals you tend to notice at the feast are flocks of pelagic birds.  The smallest birds in these mixed flocks are the red-necked phalarope.  In fact red-necked phalaropes are among the smallest sea birds in the world.  These phalaropes are small waders which typically feed in shallow waters.  However, unlike most waders, they can also be found feeding in deep pelagic waters in areas of upwelling such as the Monterey Canyon.  Almost all of the non-breeding season is spent in the open water.

The typical avian sex roles are reversed in phalaropes with females being larger and more brightly colored.  Even behavior patterns show this same role reversal.  Females pursue males ferociously, defend the nest aggressively and compete for nesting territory.  Males on the other hand provide all of the parental care.

Sooty Shearwater Gliding

A medium sized bird, the sooty shearwater is found in large numbers in the waters over the Monterey Canyon.  These amazing birds breed mainly around small islands in the southern oceans and follow spectacular long-distance migrations, traveling in a circular route around entire ocean basins.  Shearwaters breeding in New Zealand may travel more than 45 000 miles in a year averaging more than 300 miles per day.  They do not make these incredible migrations in a flock but rather as single individuals that associate with other migrants only opportunistically.  When flying over the water, the shearwater dips from side to side on stiff wings with few wing beats and wing tips almost touching the water.  The shearwater is an accomplished diver, reaching depths of up 220 feet in search of fish and squid.  They most commonly take surface food but will often follow diving whales to catch fish disturbed by the leviathan.

Black-footed Albatross

Much larger is the black-footed albatross with its two to three foot long body and an impressive wing spin of up to seven feet.  The black-footed albatross breeds on mid-Pacific islands and spends the non-breeding season along the Pacific coast of North America.  During the non-breeding months, these birds usually stay at least 12-18 miles off shore feeding in pelagic waters.  It mostly eats the eggs of flying fish as well as fish and squid and to a lesser extent crustaceans.  It typically scoops up its food from the surface of the ocean relying on flying fish eggs which are easier to locate on the surface during the day.

Western Gull in Flight

Another larger surface feeding bird, the Western gull, is also common in these Monterey feeding groups.  Like the albatross, the gull is unable to swim or dive below the water surface and depends on food available to its reach from the surface.  The gull is a large and aggressive bird which helps to make up for its inability to dive.

In addition to the large groups of pelagic birds and sea lions hunting along the canyon, a variety of dolphin species may be seen in the vicinity of the canyon or on the trip out from Monterey.  Two of these dolphin species, the northern right whale dolphin and Risso’s dolphin, have unusual appearances.  The northern right whale dolphin along with its southern cousin are the only dolphins that completely lack a dorsal fin resulting in a sleek, hydrodynamic, torpedo shape.  The northern variety has a striking color pattern of mainly slick inky black with a white ventral patch that runs along the underside from front to back.  There are also smaller white patches on the tip of the rostrum (front) and on the undersides of the flippers.  The northern right whale dolphin is highly gregarious, usually living in groups of 200 but up to 2000-3000 and often joining with other dolphin species in large mixed pods.  The northern right whale dolphin is seen most often in cool, deep, offshore waters where they mostly feed on squid and lantern fish, although a variety of surface and midwater fish are also taken.

Risso's Dolphin Family

Risso’s dolphins are robust and stocky with a bulbous head and no beak.  At birth, a Risso’s dolphin is uniform light grey in color but as the animal ages it darkens and accumulates numerous scratches and scars from the beaks of squid and from the teeth of other Risso’s dolphins resulting from their typically rough and physical social behaviors.  These dolphins feed mainly on squid, crustaceans and occasionally small fish.  Risso’s may be found singly but tend to form small pods.  Like other dolphins, Risso’s can form very large groups and will occasionally be found with other dolphin species in mixed groups.  They have a cohesive social structure of multiple generations that stay together for extended periods, however, in the larger schools, segregation by age and sex is seen to occur.

Pacific White-sided Dolphin

A third species of dolphin that is commonly seen is the Pacific white-sided dolphin.  These acrobatic dolphins have a robust body, short beak and a beautiful, sleek black, white and grey coloration with a long light colored stripe.  These animals are extremely playful and social with a love for bow riding and somersaulting in the wake of passing boats.  They feed on squid and small fish such as sardines and herring.  While hunting they are capable of diving for 6 minutes or more at a time and work cooperatively to herd fish.

As all of these avian and mammalian predators converge on the shoals of schooling fish over the canyon the sight is magnificent.  Large whales lead the parade with smaller sea lions and birds following their path both above and below the water to snap up fish disturbed by the whales. The humpback whales arrive in Monterey bay in the spring after migrating from their winter calving grounds off Mexico where they mate and have their young.

Humpback Whale Breach

The southern calving grounds are relatively nutrient poor and these whales arrive each year to the rich waters of Monterey Bay in order to feed.  Their feeding combines deep dives to several hundred feet deep where prey is often concentrated to lunge feeding for surface prey.  These 50 to 55 foot long whales often lead the assault on schools of small fish with a trail of diving birds and sea lions following under the water and other groups of birds following along the surface.  These large whales are also very active at the surface with a variety of spectacular behaviors including breaching, pectoral slapping, tail lobbing and spy hopping.  Many of these behaviors produce tremendous noise in the water and likely serve at least in part to signal other acoustically associated humpbacks in the area.  When the humpbacks are less focused on feeding they occasionally demonstrate curiosity towards boats swimming around and under boats while rubbing their skin against the hull and extending their huge, often barnacle-encrusted, pectoral flukes.

Orcas Attack a Grey Whale

morgue the movie Spring also brings migrating grey whales through Monterey Bay.  These whales over winter in the lagoons of the Baja Peninsula and Mexico where they mate and calves are born.  In the early spring, the adult males leave first on the epic migration north, up to 7000 miles, to the Bering Strait of Alaska.  The females with calves leave later taking advantage of the extra time to nurse their growing calves in order to build their strength and to train the calves in necessary skills for the long and dangerous migration ahead.  For most of the migration, the whales follow the coast line using kelp beds to play and hide their young from predators.  However, when they reach Monterey Bay and its deep submarine canyon, the mothers and calves are forced to choose between cutting a shorter route across the canyon or taking the long, but safer shallow route around the bay.  Without the kelp beds and shallow waters to disguise the calves from listening and echolocating orcas, the calves are vulnerable.  Perhaps it is orienting or inappropriate vocalizations from the inexperienced calf that draws the hunting orcas in.  Transient orcas of California also return to Monterey Bay each spring to hunt the vulnerable and inexperienced calves.

Orca Attacks an Elephant Seal

When grey whale calves are not available in the bay, the orcas hunt seals, sea lions and small dolphins and porpoises.  In years when few grey whales are born, the sea lion population of Monterey Bay can be hard hit.  The same individual orcas are seen in this area each year and generations of their young participate in the hunting and killing of grey whale whales bring the skill set to the next generation.

Most attacks occur at the canyon edge.  If the mother grey whale detects the hunting orcas early enough she may flee with her calf to shallow water where the orcas appear unwilling to follow.  Attacks on adult grey whales are relatively rare with most attacks focused on isolating, battering and drowning the calf.

Orca Attacks Grey Whale Calf

The mother grey whale protects her baby by attempting to place her titanic body between the calf and the attacking orcas and helps the baby to breath and rest between assaults by rolling on her side or back and holding the calf out of the water.  However, the attacks are relentless lasting up to 5 hours or longer and the young calf is eventually separated from its mother where it is drowned or dies from a combination of internal and external wounds.  Upon dying the calf’s body sinks. To some extent the orcas can hold the body up or drag it up from the depths in order to feed.  The tongue is usually torn out and large strips of fat rich blubber are pulled from the dead whale.  Orcas can dive down as much as 1000 feet to feed on a carcass.  Like a pack of wolves, the orcas are highly social and their is a lot of social contact and play after a successful hunt.  Tail lobbing, breaching, and even sexual displays are common in this setting.

Monterey Canyon

As a dead whale descends into the deep water it delivers many tons of nutrients to dark regions of the abyss.  The Monterey Canyon is part of a larger, complex system of canyons extending out into the Pacific.  The greater Monterey Bay Canyon System consists of the Monterey, Soquel and Carmel Canyons.  Soquel Canyon joins Monterey Canyon about 11 miles seaward of the canyon head near Moss Landing at a depth of nearly 3300 feet.  Offshore, eighteen and a half miles southward down the canyon Monterey Canyon joins Carmel Canyon at a depth of 6463 feet.  At the head of Monterey Canyon near Moss Landing at depths of less than 6500 feet, the canyon and its tributaries tend to have steep walls and narrow floors.  The relatively flat floor is about 820 feet wide with a slight seaward slope and steep walls which average between 10 and 25 degrees but may be as steep as 35 degrees in places.

Animals that live in this harsh environment are specialized to survive in conditions of tremendous pressure and low oxygen.  Water temperatures reach about 40º F (4º C) and the pressure is 320 times the air pressure at sea level.  The deep sea is also dark with some fish, jellies and squid specialized to produce their own light while others have small eyes or none at all.  The canyon walls are inhabited by pink and white soft corals that live in 650 to 4000 feet of water using flowery tentacles to grab prey drifting by in the water column.  This is also the environment where deep sea sunstars quickly move about grasping anything it can catch with its 22 arms as well as long-legged spider crabs and predatory tunicates that resemble a submarine venous flycatcher.

In the mid water, below 450 feet sunlight never penetrates and no solid surfaces exist.  a variety of strange deep water fishes hunt this region and demonstrate a daily vertical migration approaching the surface at night.  This nightly migration is probably the greatest migration of animals in the world.  The canyon floor is inhabited by a variety of sharks and their strange relatives the chimaera with their rabbit like faces and extremely ancient ancestry.  Most of the whale is eaten not by larger animals such as sharks or even by the orcas themselves but rather by smaller, more bizarre animals such as hagfish and polychaete worms.  Two such worms are specialized to digest bone.  Nothing is wasted as each specialized species takes its turn.  Although most of the food fall is not so large as this, the inhabitants of the deep depend on the “nutrient snow” that falls from the surface above.

Thus, even as life is cut short for the young whale it showers life giving nutrients onto the typically food poor sea floor which in turn supports the surface with the upwelling which provides the foundation of the surface food pyramid.  So, as life gives way to death and provides for others, spring gives way to summer bringing the ocean’s greatest inhabitant to Monterey Bay with the arrival of the blue whale.  And so it continues in one of nature’s greatest and least understood places.

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