The idea for my post came from this poster of Cetacea that was on the boat.

The tail of a Humpback whale seen in the distance

Dolphins skimming the water.

Dolphins cut through the crystal clear water.

Dolphin preparing to leap.

Long-beaked common dolphins leaping in and out of the water.

During a recent trip to Monterey, California, I went on a whale watching excursion with my family. Before the boat even started moving, we saw seals sunning themselves nearby and cute sea otters swimming in the water. The Monterey Bay is a great place for whale watching because whales and dolphins can be seen year round. Dolphins and whales belong to a group of marine mammals called Cetacea. Cetacea contains the Greek root ceta– meaning whale. On our tour, we saw a megapod of long-beaked common dolphins skipping over the water agilely. It was amazing to see how swiftly they could swim! In the distance were immense humpback whales slapping the water forcefully with their tail fins. I was quite excited when I saw the whales breaching the water, creating large splashes. I hope you enjoy the pictures that we took during the whale watching trip!