There were some dolphins that neither my mom nor I got pictures of. They seemed to be playing with kayakers in the bay. I think that was the first time I've ever seen a dolphin outside of a zoo or aquarium. There were also jellyfish and starfish. One starfish will be posted next time. A bird was messing with it, lol.
The first non-birds we spotted were harbor seals. They are now rather plentiful along the California coast. Up to 40,000 from 50 back in 1938. Their scientific name is Phoca vitulina sub-species richardii.
This one looked a lot like a rock until I looked through the camera.
This one just begged for alliteration. It was hilarious! It was like that until after we walked away.
This smallish one - a first year I guess - looked so much like a statue one might see in a fountain. This one also posed like this for a good long time; at least 5 minutes.
This is one of the California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) that was hanging out with the Brandt's Cormorants. It's pretty young, but it already has scars over the right eye. It's a tough world out there for them.
This is an odd looking crab. I wouldn't have noticed it except my mom pointed it out so I could take its picture. I have no idea what type it is. I looked online, but nothing matched. I also don't really know what that gelatinous stuff is, but I'm guessing eggs. It's odd though because on crabs they usually carry the eggs underneath, not off on one side. It's also missing the most rear right leg.
Here's another one that was hanging out with the one above. This one is smaller. There were at least 5 crabs I spotted in the rocks near the cormorants. All were pretty small - about 3 inches across - except for the one above which was about 5 inches across. This one is missing it's right claw. Hmmm... wonder who or what grabbed them.
Check out my mom's post on these ones.
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5 comments:
Those harbor seals are some of the prettiest animals I've seen. They really make me want to scratch their bellies! We have no crabs here in Minnesota so I'm no help there.
They sure are cute. I would have loved to pet them too! I wonder if there is an opportunity for that at the aquarium. Thanks for wanting to help with the crabs anyway :D I guess there would only be fresh water hermit crabs in & around the lakes up there.
Those crab pix turned out good. I'm sure glad you posted them, especially since I didn't try getting a photo of them knowing it was kinda dark where they were crawling around. And, of course, I like your "portrait" of the young sea lion -- another mammal I didn't really try getting a photo of.
Love the seals. Going to show my ignorance. I am from the Southeast. Where is Monterey Bay?
Hi Leedra! Monterey Bay is about 100 miles south of San Francisco and probably 350 miles north of Los Angeles. Both Santa Cruz and the city of Monterey are located on that bay.
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