Fast Raft

Fast Raft Whale Watching, Coastal Tours, Private Charters on Monterey Bay, with a fast, quiet 6-passenger RIB. Schedule & tickets: https://fastraft.com Join us!
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Scheduled public tours and custom private charters in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Whale watching, coastal cruises to Point Lobos, and special events. "Ranger" is a 33ft RIB (rigid fiberglass hull, inflatable pontoons) with two new EPA certified four-stroke Mercury engines. The boat was designed for military use and is made to the highest standards of safety and reliability. It's perfect for photography and feeling close to the whales and dolphins.

Onshore bottlenose dolphins are the one species of the six species of dolphin found in Monterey Bay that is always found...
06/17/2025

Onshore bottlenose dolphins are the one species of the six species of dolphin found in Monterey Bay that is always found near shore. Worldwide, they are almost nearly always found within a quarter mile of land, often fishing just outside the surf line.

Because of this, we rarely see them on our whale watching tours. When we do, it is always as we are leaving or entering Moss Landing Harbor, so at the beginning or end of our trips.

Yesterday we had a young woman on board who graduated last Saturday from Santa Clara University. Her mom, aunt, and uncle had traveled here from Chicago, to attend her graduation, and took her out whale watching with us as a graduation present.

At the end of the trip she mentioned she saw dolphins from the beach on Sunday from a beach at Santa Cruz and asked what species they might be. After she described them I told her bottlenose dolphins. "But they look different than the ones I've seen in Florida!". I explained our population here in the eastern Pacific are duskier than those seen in the southeastern US.

Just moments after this discussion we heard that another boat had found bottlenose dolphins about a half mile north of us, just off the beach!

So she got to see our bottlenose dolphins two days in a row!

These photos make it clear how close to shore we often see them. And also their dusky coloration.

Oh, yeah, and we saw plenty of humpbacks just outside the harbor entrance, too. Between dolphins and humpbacks, what more could you want?

Come on out!

Daily tours, online tickets, & info: www.FastRaft.com

Photos ©Don Baccus

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Four huge humpbacks lunging at once! We also saw Northern right-whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins, and a g...
06/13/2025

Four huge humpbacks lunging at once!
We also saw Northern right-whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins, and a group of five humpbacks feeding with hundreds of sea lions.

Come on out!
Daily tours, online tickets, & info: www.FastRaft.com

Photo by Captain ©Kate Spencer

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All about that breach!This young whale couldn't stop breaching and tail-lobbing and flipper-slapping. Then Pacific white...
06/10/2025

All about that breach!
This young whale couldn't stop breaching and tail-lobbing and flipper-slapping. Then Pacific white-sided dolphins found us and danced all around the boat. Pretty spectacular day on Monterey Bay, all within five miles of Moss Landing Harbor!

Come on out! The Fast Raft is never crowded, with just six passengers.
Daily tour tickets & info at FastRaft.com

That island is a BLUE WHALE in Monterey Bay!Adults are 70–90 feet long, about two humpbacks. That's the Monterey Airport...
06/09/2025

That island is a BLUE WHALE in Monterey Bay!
Adults are 70–90 feet long, about two humpbacks. That's the Monterey Airport in the background. Usually they are out on the continental shelf slope in much deeper water where there is very dense krill. This one was figuring out it's all anchovies in there, and those tubby humpbacks. Blue whales are so elongated and streamlined that their small dorsal fin doesn't even show until the whole head and blowholes have gone down.

We also saw fantastic humpback whale breaches, schools of anchovies at the surface, Pacific white-sided dolphins and Risso's dolphins, and hundreds of small sport fishing boats looking for salmon. They had better luck yesterday.

We sure had good luck today! Come join us. Summer whale watching is really warming up.

Tickets & info: https://fastraft.com

Vertical lunge-feeding!We had a wonderful afternoon watching humpbacks gorging themselves surrounded by a couple hundred...
06/08/2025

Vertical lunge-feeding!
We had a wonderful afternoon watching humpbacks gorging themselves surrounded by a couple hundred recreational boats fishing for salmon.

Why were all those boats around the whales? Today was the opening day for California's special weekend recreational salmon season (after a couple of years of closure due to the impact of several years of drought).

Salmon eat anchovies.

Humpback whales eat anchovies.

So we look for whales in the same places fishers are liking for salmon.

Many of the fishermen were paying almost as much attention to the humpbacks feeding as they were to their poles. Especially when a large school of anchovies rose to the surface and the whales began vertical lunge feeding for about two hours in the afternoon!

When we first arrived at this location, we found three humpbacks that were napping, lying at the surface and occasionally breathing. We were just about to leave when they woke up and went to work.

We were glad we took the time to watch them snooze because as they did, the anchovies rose to the surface, and the humpbacks roused themselves and the action was fantastic.

Join us!

Tickets & info: fastraft.com

831-324-4883

Dolphins stole the show today! Did you know there are at least 38 species of dolphins? Risso's like this one are who we ...
06/07/2025

Dolphins stole the show today!
Did you know there are at least 38 species of dolphins? Risso's like this one are who we see most frequently. They're deep diving squid hunters whose faces get scratched up by raspy squid tentacles—and their bodies are decorated with rake marks from horseplay with their companions. They also get lighter with age, like our graying hair. This dark young adult shows their natural chest markings unusually well. There are even dark spots where a few sensitive hairs grow on its upper lip! Yep, dolphins and whales are mammals, and they have whiskers!

We also saw several humpback whales including a cow-calf pair, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and gazillions of sooty shearwaters. Come on out!

Tickets & info: fastraft.com
831-324-4883

Will this happen again tomorrow?😃Louise's family of killer whales were here three days this week!Great photos by our Cap...
06/06/2025

Will this happen again tomorrow?😃
Louise's family of killer whales were here three days this week!
Great photos by our Captain Kaelyn . Come on back, Louise! You may have seen some amazing videos from several boats on Monterey Bay because they were super interactive and visited all the boats. We enjoyed them all by ourselves for nearly an hour on Tuesday before any other boats arrived. At one point three of them were swimming upside-down! Thanks, Louise—we love your family!

We'll be happy with humpback whales too, of course. 🐋💦

Tickets & info: fastraft.com
831-324-4883

06/05/2025

Orcas three days in a row!

Tuesday was special. Our stellar Second Captain, Kaelyn DeYoung, brought her grandparents whale watching to experience the super boat she's so fond of driving.

We left an hour before any other boats and in about 10 minutes found these killer whales near Moss Landing. The matriarch, CA140B, is nicknamed "Louise" and her family now includes a baby that was just born last November!

We enjoyed them by ourselves for an hour in calm, quiet sea conditions. Don took this video just a few minutes before the second whale watching boat showed up (that's their captain you can hear on the radio). If you listen closely, just after he makes his comment you can hear a funny vocalization by one of the killer whales.

Come enjoy the of the wonderful marine life here on Monterey Bay!

Daily tours, private charters, and info at https://fastraft.com

Video ©Don Baccus

How 'bout a little love the for albatrosses? 🥰These incredible birds with 6-7foot wingspans fly thousands of miles acros...
05/29/2025

How 'bout a little love the for albatrosses? 🥰
These incredible birds with 6-7foot wingspans fly thousands of miles across the ocean from their nesting colonies in the far northwest end of the Hawaiian Island chain to feed on the rich upwelling along the continental shelf. When we stop, sometimes dozens gather to see if we might be discarding some fish scraps. Black-footed albatrosses follow Bigg's killer whales (which we saw nearby!) to clean up the leftovers from a hunt, and they can smell decomposing phytoplankton to locate productive ocean patches where they scoop up fish and squid near the surface. These are cousins of the much larger, famous wandering albatross of the Antarctic seas, and are the big sisters of the numerous sooty shearwaters that have arrived in droves all over Monterey Bay. All of them are called "tube-noses" for their distinctive nostrils in tubes on bills. Look closely!

On our boat, you might meet them up close and personal!

Daily tours, private charters, and info at https://fastraft.com

Photos by Captain ©Kate Spencer, May 27, 2025

Weren't those killer whales beautiful! On Tuesday two of the less common matrilines of Bigg's killer whales (the CA122s ...
05/29/2025

Weren't those killer whales beautiful!
On Tuesday two of the less common matrilines of Bigg's killer whales (the CA122s and the CA206s) visited Monterey Bay, and most of the boats got to spend some time with them. Two matriarchs, two huge males (mama's boys), and some youngsters.

We also enjoyed a long visit with some resting black-footed albatrosses, and humpback whales breaching and splashing.

Summer whale watching is already great! Join us: htts://fastraft.com

"Wheee" goes the young humpback with orca teeth marks on its tail. Its mom was a good defender! Tour tickets & info: www...
05/23/2025

"Wheee" goes the young humpback with orca teeth marks on its tail. Its mom was a good defender!

Tour tickets & info: www.fastraft.com

05/22/2025

Incredible friendly humpback whales this morning! 🤩😍

Summer whale watching is heating up in Monterey Bay. Come on out!
Tickets & info: www.fastraft.com

Video by Captain ©Kate Spencer, May 22, 2025

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