The Giant Fish With a Skelton Like a Shark

Crossing the Gulf of the Farallones is always an eventful experience. Currents and tides aggregate plankton and planktivorous (plankton-eating) fish, which in turn attract harbor porpoises, seabirds and humpback whales. The rich seawater upwelled from the deep waters, feeds a proliferation of plankton, attracting marine life from across the Pacific into the Sanctuary waters. One of the most unusual fish is the giant ocean sunfish.

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Trip Report: Devil’s Teeth and Ducking Whales

Humpback whales steam among the fish, spouts blowing in the wind as they forage in the waves. We find the whales often feeding in or close to the shipping lane. Each year as many as 200,000 ships enter and exit the Golden Gate, and according to the Point Blue Conservation Science as many as 83 humpback, blue and fin whales are killed by ships on the West Coast each year.

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New Voluntary Speed Regulation Intended to Protect Whales, Reduce Ship Strikes

Strandings of dead whales along Bay Area beaches has increased in recent years, up from 11 in 2018 to 21 in 2021, according to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.  Along with entanglement in fishing gear and malnutrition, it is believed that ship strikes are a leading cause of whale death.

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