Whale Behaviors on Monterey Bay

One of the most fascinating things to experience while whale watching on Monterey Bay is observing whale behaviors in the wild! While behaviors vary among species, you may be lucky enough to catch a whale breaching, lunge feeding, spy hopping, pectoral slapping, trumpeting and more. All Cetacean’s have been observed with similar surfacing behaviors including whales, dolphins, and porpoises. However, depending on the species, whether they are shy or socially friendly, will either avoid interaction or seek interaction with us while out on the water out of curiosity and playfulness.

These behaviors are not only fun to watch, but are a critical part of a cetacean’s social organization and structure, communication, and mating activities providing us with research opportunities and a better understanding of our magnificent sea life, including population trends that are an important indicator of our ocean health.

In this short video, Sea Goddess Naturalist Lora Johansen explains some of these behaviors and what you may see when you come whale watching Monterey Bay with us!

Learn more on our Monterey Bay Whales page.