[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEHZdCxZUok?feature=player_detailpage]
By Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor
Whale watchers out of Monterey Bay on Monday evening were treated to an amazing spectacle, but instead of whales it was thousands of seabirds that stole the spotlight.
The feeding grounds off Moss Landing were overrun by tens of thousands–perhaps hundreds of thousands–of sooty shearwaters, which spanned nearly as far as the eye could see.
In dense fog with obscured visibility, the pelagic seabirds created a surreal, almost Hitchcockian atmosphere as they frantically hurried from one spot to another, to gorge on schooling anchovies, at times littering the water in tight, dark masses.
In the accompanying footage, naturalist Greg McCormack of the Sea Wolf II, which runs from Monterey Bay Whale Watch , can be heard informing the passengers: “This really is one of the great spectacles that you’ll ever see in your entire life… Hundreds of thousands of birds right here.”
The clip was widely shared via social media, and Facebook watchers were also awed. Monterey Bay Whale Watch uploaded the clip to YouTube on Tuesday.
Reads one comment on the company Facebook page : “It’s fun to see nature when it behaves like this.”
Sooty shearwaters, compact birds that measure about 20 inches, are found throughout the world. Those that seasonally visit California breed in southern Chile and New Zealand.
Their feeding season off California runs into early fall. They gather in immense flocks when food is abundant in reasonably small areas, and in recent weeks “mega-tons of anchovies” have gathered off Monterey, according to Monterey Bay Whale Watch.
Viewers of the video might note that a humpback whale does make an appearance at the 50-second mark, but is clearly overshadowed by the shearwaters.
