What is drawing humpback whales, big bluefin tuna to California coast? - East Bay Times

They were like puppies at a dog park meeting for

the first time.

That’s how Erik Combs, captain for Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach, describes the playful behavior between a humpback calf swimming alongside dolphins, just next to a boat full of people watching the wildlife interact from above.

“The baby became super energetic, the baby was tail throwing, swimming all around the boat with the dolphins — it was incredible,” Combs said of the Tuesday, Feb. 18 encounter about four miles off the Huntington Beach coast. “It’s cool because it seemed like they know each other … like they are on a play date. They meet new species and they aren’t scared of each other.”

It was just one of several moments off the Southern California coast in recent days that has ocean enthusiasts excited about the action on the water. Such atypical sightings also are leading experts to wonder what’s happening in the ocean ecosystem.

Humpbacks have an annual migration, spending summers off Central and Northern California and typically heading to warmer tropical waters during the winter. But their appearance in Southern California isn’t as predictable as that of the gray whales that pass on their migration between Mexico and Alaska.

In January 2019, Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari counted more than 40 humpback sightings, whereas in January 2018, only four were seen.

This year got off to a slow start, with the first sightings logged by Dana Wharf Whale Watching on Jan. 26, when eight were counted, but then not again until Feb. 11.

Since then, they’ve been spotted nearly every day off the Southern California coast, some observed scooping up big mouthfuls of water and anchovies, leaping from the water as they gulped their feast.

Ryan Lawler, owner of Newport Coastal Adventure, got word humpbacks were showing up in big numbers off Orange County on Tuesday, so he jumped on a boat despite it being his day off. For the past couple of years, humpbacks have arrived in mid-March — so he wonders if this month’s mild weather drew them to town earlier than usual.

“Maybe it’s a sign spring is going to come early,” Lawler said. “I’m convinced (lack of storms) has made the ocean more stable and the animals react to that stability.”

Another hint that something is different: bluefin tuna, upward of 50 pounds, are being caught a few miles off the coast, a rarity this time of year. They typically show up in summer.

“It all has to do with one thing — the food is here. There’s so much anchovies off the coast, they are here feeding,” Lawler said, describing half-acre schools of anchovy bait balls. “You’re having these predators coming from all around the Pacific Ocean and they are coming to this little corner here in Orange County.”

Steve Burkhalter, captain for Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching, said the humpbacks spotted off the coast were “lunge feeding,” leaping into the air and scooping food into their mouths.

“I’ve never seen one come up that high,” he said. “It was a great day. Dolphins pretty much throughout. They are all feeding on anchovies … there’s some huge spots of bait out there.”

Another surprise encounter on Tuesday was a Sei whale.

“We never see Sei whales in winter,” Lawler said, noting the species was last seen here in summer 2019. “This is only the third one we’ve seen in our five years of operations.”

The anchovies aren’t rare, but seeing the predators following their food close to shore has whale watchers perplexed. Food close to shore can spell trouble for the whales, as they are more likely to come in contact with crab and fishing gear that can entangle them while they forage.

One of the half-dozen humpbacks spotted by Newport Coastal Adventure on Tuesday looked to be the same entangled humpback documented last weekend off the San Diego coast, but some of the netting may have come off.

“It showed up here, trying to hang out with the rest of its buddies to feed. It keeps following around the other humpbacks,” Lawler said, noting that rescue teams are monitoring the whale. “We’re seeing what we think is progression in the entanglement resolving itself naturally. It seems to be improving on its own.”

Mola mola, or sunfish, also have been seen recently, signaling a possible change in ocean currents.

“It all means something,” Lawler said. “We don’t really know how to exactly explain it, but we’re seeing all these signs that something is up out there.”

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