Whales ‘breach like crazy’ moments after earthquake

Moments after a 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck near the California towns of Hollister and Salinas on Tuesday, boaters in nearby Monterey Bay witnessed a spectacular display of breaching humpback whales.

While it’s impossible to know whether the whales were reacting to sound generated by the earthquake, anecdotal evidence suggests that this was the case.

“The way it all went down on the water really seemed like a reaction from the underwater noise in the canyon,” Katlyn Taylor, a naturalist aboard the High Spirits, told For The Win Outdoors. “As soon as we said on the radio that the whales were going nuts in every direction, another captain said they had received an earthquake notice.”

The High Spirits runs out of Blue Ocean Whale Watch in Moss Landing Harbor, about 35 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, on what’s known as the creeping section of the San Andreas Fault.

The vessel’s passengers and crew were watching two humpback whales when the earthquake struck at 12:42 p.m. They did not feel the earthquake, but at about this time they noticed other whales breaching in the distance.

Then, at 12:43, the two whales alongside the High Spirits breached.

“All in all, seven whales within four miles of us were breaching like crazy,” Kate Cummings, captain of High Spirits, told For The Win Outdoors.

Cummings added: “I’m usually very skeptical of these sorts of things and lean toward it being a coincidence, but something that pushes me back the other way is the fact that the whales haven’t been very surface active in general this year.”

One of the whales in the accompanying images is a regular visitor to Monterey Bay, nicknamed Fran. Cummings said this was the first time she had seen Fran beach.

Arrow points to distant whales splashing down. Photo: ©Kate Cummings/Blue Ocean Whale Watch

Underwater sound generated by the earthquake was detected by a hydrophone monitored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. John Ryan, who works with hydrophone data, said Tuesday’s earthquake “was heard loud and clear.”

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a California-based whale researcher, said she had not heard of whales being inspired to breach by earthquakes, but added that whales “are very sensitive to sound.”

Schulman-Janiger added: “To have multiple whales suddenly breaching over a large area at the same time, and it just happens to coincide with the earthquake? I think that’s super interesting.”

Whale strandings preceding earthquakes have been documented, and studies have shown changes in cetacean behavior before or during earthquakes.

In 2012, observers off Indonesia and Sri Lanka were unaware that a significant undersea earthquake had struck, but noticed that several cetacean species they were watching had suddenly vanished without a trace.

Mexican researchers once documented a fin whale fleeing at high speed away from the site of an undersea earthquake.

In 2011, dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., began to swim very closely in tight formation in advance of a 5.8 earthquake that struck 118 miles away.

Cummings shared her photos and a description of Tuesday’s events on Facebook, describing events that unfolded as “unbelievable.”

–Images courtesy of Kate Cummings/Blue Ocean Whale Watch