August 27, 2015

Pat Broderick of the Wyliecat 30 Nancy filed this report:

Along with the OYRA/SSS Drake's Bay racing this weekend, we saw some interesting wildlife on both days. The Gulf of the Farallones is alive with sea life of various sorts and they put on a show for us while we were sailing and while we were anchored in Drake's Bay. It continued even when we were back in the Sausalito berth Sunday afternoon.

It began with several humpback whales feeding just outside the Golden Gate after we'd turned northwest toward Drake's Bay. A pair was cruising along, probably feeding. They'd come up, blow, then disappear for several minutes before their fins appeared and they blew again. Their distinctive "V" shaped blow — they are baleen whales — created little geysers of water as they slowly cruised out toward the Farallon Islands. They didn't seem interested in us, and since they were swimming away from our track, we weren't interested in them beyond appreciating their presence.

We saw another humpback farther up the coast, but it was far away and we only saw it once before it disappeared behind us. There were reports of other whale sightings on the radio as the afternoon wore on.

About halfway up the Marin coastline, we saw a large group of 'something' in the water head of us. At first we thought it was a flock of birds sitting on the water, but as we sailed closer it appeared to be a raft of sea lions. They looked smaller, so we assumed they were juvenile California sea lions. There must have been thirty or more floating together, stirring up the water, with their heads raised. The raft was slowly moving toward land, creating a mini-maelstrom in the water as it moved, sort of like a Disneyland 'rapids.'

A few miles before Drake's Bay we began to see shearwaters in great numbers floating on the water. There were so many that from a distance they turned large patches of ocean black. We estimate there were thousands of little dark birds on the water, stretching several miles. We sailed through one flock, which promptly took flight, swirling around us in a cloud of flapping wings. The sound of hundreds of wings created a loud "whirr" as they flew ahead, over, and behind the boat. Although we ducked in the cockpit, all of them missed us and the sail as they flew by.

Flying into Drake's Bay. ©2015 norcalsailing.com

After we anchored in Drake's Bay and the light was disappearing, we saw a herd of tule elk silhouetted against the Pt. Reyes skyline to the west. We counted about a dozen animals standing still with the light coming through their legs. Two smaller elk gamboled up and down the slope. We assumed they were youngsters exercising their juvenile rights.

In the morning the boat was surrounded by a sea of flashing silver sardines. The small silver fish darted around about two feet below the surface. They swirled in a large school, and as they turned their silver scales caught the early morning sunlight with a silvery sheen. And then they were gone. Where to?

As we began our race back from Drake's Bay to San Francisco we sailed through the shearwaters again. The wind was down, so the water was glassy and they floated in huge black patches almost as far as the eye could see when looking toward the shore several miles away. Again, as we sailed through they took flight and then settled down a few hundred yards away.

Common murres were a common sight on both days. Unlike the shearwaters, they don't travel in flocks, rather in twosomes of one parent and one cheeping baby. They nest on the Farallones. ©2015 norcalsailing.com

About 4 miles south of Pt. Reyes we saw a clump of kelp up ahead. It appeared to have branches sticking up, but kelp doesn't have branches, so we keep a close eye. As we approached we saw it was a sea otter on its back resting atop the kelp. As we sailed by we thought we saw a second otter in the water next to the matted kelp. They were pretty far out from land and in about 200 feet of water, but there must have been food down there somewhere.

Pretty soon we passed a row of crab pot buoys and that made me think of all those tasty critters scuttling around down there somewhere and a question I've asked myself for decades. Just what do crabs eat and where does it all come from? I think of the tons and tons of Dungeness crabs the crabbers bring in each season and I wonder. Well, I wonder about as long as it takes to heat up some lemon butter to dip a hunk of crab in, anyway.

A few miles north of Pt. Bonita we saw more humpbacks. One surfaced a hundred yards away and Ross learned about my beat-on-the-hull-whale-alarm technique. The whale didn't seem concerned, blew, and disappeared with its fin sliding under the water. Since nothing bumped us I assume by drum beat worked.

The only unhappy wildlife experience was the dead seagull we passed after turning into the Golden Gate. We saw a white object floating ahead and thought it might be a hunk of styrofoam or perhaps an errant fender making its way to the great Pacific Gyre where all plastic trash ends up. But, nope, it was an unfortunate seagull floating belly up. Since it was intact none of its seagull buddies had discovered its body yet, but that was probably only a matter of time.

After we got Nancy back in the Sausalito berth and began cleaning up, a friendly harbor seal popped up between the boat and the dock. Its cute face looked up at us with large eyes. As we moved from one side of the boat to the other it followed us around like a puppy. We guessed returning fishermen have been feeding leftover bait and the seal had learned dinner might be tossed its way. But we didn't have anything to contribute, so after a while it swam off down the aisle toward Richardson Bay. We could have told it about the sardines in Drake's Bay, but a 35-mile swim through the ocean for a harbor seal was probably not going to happen.

BBQ and beverages in the raft-up. ©2015 norcalsailing.com

Of course I'm not including in this review the 'wildlife' onboard rafted boats anchored out in Drake's Bay. It's like Vegas. "What Happens in Drake's Bay, Stays in Drake's Bay."

— Pat Broderick, Nancy, Wyliecat 30

Read Pat's race report here, and see the video of our avian escort into Drake's Bay here.