Carmel Bay: Fisherman films close encounter with humpback whale

Monterey fisherman Lance Scott had a close encounter with a humpback whale three weeks ago while kayaking in Carmel Bay. He was only a half mile off shore.

Video:



Scott is a full-time fisherman in the Monterey Bay and he's no stranger to close encounters, but you can tell from the video he was pretty surprised.

Humpback whales have been close to shore in Carmel and Monterey because of all the anchovies close to shore, according to Barbara Block of the Hopkins Marine Station.

"We have a hot spot created by (underwater) points that then concentrate upwelling close to shore," she said, "and this leads to nutrient enrichment, plankton blooms. Anchovy feed on the plankton, the whales feed on the anchovy."

Do you have an interesting Monterey Bay video? Send it to me at pmolnar@montereyherald.com

Lance Scott and son Dylan, 10, with a 54-pound Halibut from the Monterey Bay

Monterey County sea monster is just a whale carcass

My dream of covering a Monterey Bay sea monster story will have to wait another day.

About a week and a half ago, Michael Bell of Seaside contacted me about a possible sea monster found on the beach off of Tioga Avenue in Seaside.

This is how Bell described it in an email:

"It's about 50ft long &looks as if it had underwater wings :) & it's amazing!! I am unable to tell exactly what it is, yet with Earth's oceans vast greatness, I wouldn't be (sic) suprised if it's an undiscovered creature of the deep seas?!"

Unfortunately for newspaper sales, the good people at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station have cleared up the confusion.

Randy Kochevar, a researcher at the station, looked it over with some colleagues and they concluded it was an old, dried up whale carcass.

"You can see the characteristic folds from the underside of the mouth cavity in some of the photos," he said.

I'm sure there is all sorts of crazy stuff out in the Pacific Ocean we have not discovered. I will hold out hope for the next unique thing that washes up on shore.