Sooo I have a friend of mine who teaches a Marine Biology class to high school students in Southern California. She had planned a Monterey Bay trip for her students, and all the available chaperons couldn’t make it. She she asked me, the marine biologist graduate, if I would like to go on the trip! I OF COURSE SAID YES!
So this past weekend- we spent 3 amazing fun packed days in Monterey Bay. We stopped by SLO to see the gigantic elephant seals. Arrived in Monterey 9 hours later, unpacked, then played some indoor black-light Ocean mini-golf course (SO FUN). The next day we headed to the Elkhorn Slough for a wildlife tour on a pontoon boat. I have to say- it was one of the most gorgeous sunny days I have ever witnessed on the peninsula. We saw over 60 sea otters, over 200 harbor seals, over 400 sea lions, and 37 bird species. AWESOME!
Then our kayaking plans were put on hold since the waves were too big, so I pulled some strings and got us on the next whale watching boat leaving in an hour and a half. So we rushed back to MB and jumped on the boat.
A lot of the people, including my friend the teacher, were deathly seasick for the majority of the time. Lucky me, I dont get seasick, so I was making sure everyone else was ok. We finally spotted 3 grey whales on our journey across the huge ocean swells- got a couple good pictures.
That night we were able to have 2 hours of down time- so my friend Bryan met up with Sivan (teacher) and I for dinner. It was glorious!
The last day- we woke up early and got a tour of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. It REALLY made me want to go back to school- specifically grad school soon. Not necessarily in Monterey..but somewhere. I’m such a nerd- the need to learn is exceedingly high for me right now.
After that- we went straight to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Amazing as always 🙂
Then we packed and got back on the bus- for the drive back to LA.
Please check out some of my favorite pictures from the trip.
Photography + Science = Chanel 
Nice Post, and Photo’s!
Monterey Bay is one of those places I’ve been wanting to visit for a very long time! Looks like such a beautiful area, and a good representation of the success we can have with effective management of marine environments..
Thank you~
You should definitely visit MB- it’s amazing.
Where did you take that picture of the sea otter? From the actual open ocean or fom the Montery Bay Aquarium? They have their own play ground in the aquarium. They’re so adorable.
You can see a TON of sea otters in Moss Landing. It’s about 30 mins away from Monterey right in the middle between MB and Santa Cruz. You can take sea otter/estuary tours and all that fun stuff. The town of Moss Landing is cute and quaint and quite often you can see lots of otters just next to the boats in the harbor area. Check it out next time you are up there!
Ow… how I wish I knew before I got there. Oh well, there’s always a next time esp. when I visit Carmel.
Yup Carmel is pretty spectacular as well!