Tons of grey whales passing by Montara Beach

I was driving north on the coastside highway just below the Devil’s Slide tunnel between Montara and Pacifica when I caught a glimpse of what I thought might be a whale spout out of the corner of my left eye. I turned the car around, pulled to the side of the road and there they were.

At first I was not sure what I was seeing. Was that a flash of a tail fin slapping the water next to a roll of an arching back? The next second I saw what I thought were two pectoral flukes and a bit of a whale belly right next to a spout. Then one leaped and I could see the striations on its throat. I quickly realized I was looking at a small pod of three or four gray whales cavorting and tumbling over each other in the water. As soon as one pod passed another always came into view a few thousand feet further down the coast.

How many whales passed by during the half an hour I spent looking down on the water? Dozens and dozens at least. With all of them tumbling and twisting around and around it was impossible to get a good count. Watch the video and you will see what I mean.