Break from the farallones



I have been on the farallon islands for two months now, which means that it is time for a break! Below are the last few photos of my time on the island, and then I will progress with ones from my break.

 

A western gull on territory in the evening



Not quite the cute seal on postcards.



The two houses on the island. On the left is the PRBO house, where we reside. On the right is the coastguard house, where visitors stay.



-04 cow and her then-pup, now weaner.



A pup having a bad start to life. Still with after-birth wrapped around him, a cow snaps at his nose whilst water comes in behind him. Sadly this one didn't survive the night.



A California sea lion with waves breaking behind



Pete in the aftermath of hitting and biting an SA1 for several minutes.



Andre enjoys the cool water on a hot day.

To start the break, we were greeted with amazingly flat seas for the landing, and beautiful conditions on the voyage on a 38ft sail boat.


The farallones from the water



Sailing towards the golden gate bridge in the dying light



The sun disappearing, with the farallones somewhere on the horizon.

After being treated to Puerto Rican food on my return to the mainland, I slept in the office for the night after being dazzled by the return to the bright and loud mainland. In the morning I made my way to san fran, and onwards to Monterey. In my short time here, I have loved every second. Everywhere you turn there is some tribute to the marine environment, either past or present. Marine wildlife is everywhere too, so it's not too much different to the Farallones!



View from the bus on the way to Monterey



Cannery row, Monterey - where Sardines used to be the main industry



A statue I am rather fond of!



The view from Monterey into the bay



A tribute to divers



Monterey beach



Beach houses, I expect they could look a bit nicer, especially the "cliff"!

Yesterday I arrived in the afternoon so I had enough time to wander around, but not enough to do anything specific. So this morning I was at the doors of the aquarium as it opened. I've always wanted to go to Monterey Aquarium and have heard great things. I was not disappointed. It didn't have as many fish as I expected, but the species it did have were displayed and apparently cared for very well. It is a very big and open aquarium, making it easy to re-visit exhibits if there is a school trip in the way on your initial viewing, which is often an issue in UK aquariums which adopt a circular one-way route. As usual, I'll rely on the photos to do the explanation.

Giant Pacific octopus

Lions mane

Sea nettles

Moon jellies

The big tank draws a crowd

Common murre under-water

Feeding tufted puffin

Spotted jelly

Indonesian sea nettle

Flame jelly

Big-fin reef squid



Tentacle of Giant Pacific octopus

Giant Pacific octopus

Stumpy cuttlefish

Pharaoh cuttlefish 



Southern sea otter

Black-footed penguin

After seeing the captive sea otter swimming around in circles, I went outside to the deck where there is a member of staff looking out for wild marine mammals, who pointed out a couple of sea otters floating past, one of which had a cub on her chest.


The one on the right has a cub



Showing off their tags

After the visit to the Aquarium, I walked along the coast North, and kept seeing whales blowing off the coast, harbour seals, many species of sea birds, and some interesting shore birds.

Snowy egret



Harbour seal

Brown pelican in breeding plumage

Eared grebes

Tomorrow I will be walking along the coastal trail north, hoping to see some more whales, otters, seals and birds! The day afterwards I will be travelling back to san fran to take a few flights to Alaska, which I'm sure will result in many more photos.