For the past few weeks, Monterey Bay has played host to one of nature’s great spectacles: the summer migration of sooty shearwaters. These seabirds are typically only seen over open ocean, but at certain times of year can be seen from land in staggering numbers, frequently gathering in massive flocks in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Monterey Bay presents a great food source along their migration route, which is an insane 40,000 mile round-trip to South America and back. Of course, an event of this magnitude is difficult to convey in a single image. The experience of watching the horizon become obscured with dark clouds of birds truly has to be seen to be believed.
If this reminds you of something out of Hitchcock, you're not crazy: his film 'The Birds' was partly inspired by shearwaters on the California coast. As the story goes, shearwaters intoxicated from ingesting toxic algae once flew haphazardly into a coastal town, crashing into people's homes.
Other birds are also attracted to the food source that the shearwaters have found. Brown Pelicans, as well as Elegant and Caspian Terns can be seen diving into the ocean for fish and other small creatures. Western and Heermann's Gulls are also prevalent, although they prefer to chase the pelicans and terns and steal their catch.
Marine mammals also get involved! Seals, sea lions, otters, dolphins, and whales have all been seen in the past few weeks.
The moral of the story? Get outside and take a walk! You never know what you might see in your own backyard!