Majestic: Alan Brady is surprised by two breaching humpback whales while kayaking off the coast of Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, California last TuesdayThe U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday monitored the waters off Santa Cruz, where a pod of whales has settled unusually close to shore drawing crowds and threatening the safety of kayakers and other boaters trying to get a look at the creatures.
The humpback whales, each measuring about the length of a school bus, have come about a mile from land in search of food.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary said no one has been hurt so far but at least one sailboat was damaged this week when it struck a whale.
'The sheer number of folks crowding around the whales is not only an issue for the whales themselves, but also public safety,' Paul Michel, the sanctuary's superintendent, told The San Francisco Chronicle. He estimated that 100 people took to the ocean on paddleboards and in kayaks last weekend to get a look.
He worried that the gawkers might disrupt the whales as they eat and leave them without enough energy to make their migratory journey to Mexico.
source: dailymail
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