There are few spectacles that can top an acre-wide topwater feeding frenzy at sea that includes finfish, pinnipeds, dolphins and whales. This is the stuff that takes your breath away.
This was the scene that captured the attention and awe of myself and my friend Col. Dave Lopez on our return leg from a very successful fishing trip off Hollister Ranch aboard his Grady-White fishing boat. We had caught limits of tasty rockfish like red snapper, honeycomb rockfish, olive rockfish and ocean whitefish.
On our way back to Santa Barbara. we cruised slowly at first while we filleted our catch at sea.
We were off Drakes in 250 feet of water when suddenly we were in the midst of a massive feeding extravaganza that rose to the surface of the sea around us and spread out well over an acre in size.
There were finfish boiling on the surface, hundreds of sea lions, thousands of dolphin and several humpback whales, all working at getting a bellyful of anchovies. The food source was a giant baitball of anchovies an acre wide and nearly a hundred feet deep.
Those various and varied ocean predators are amazingly good at understanding and complimenting one another’s tactics and abilities to corral and manipulate a gigantic baitball so everyone gets a meal. Fortunately, with a baitball that huge, there was plenty for everyone.
Whales can come up with great mouthfuls of water and anchovies, with both spilling out the corners of its impressive mouth and water filtering out through baleen plates so that a pickup truck bed worth of anchovies is left to swallow down.
Dolphins are masters of their craft, and it is amazing to watch them herd up and feed on a baitball of anchovies. Sea lions are almost as good at it and they are quite smart about the process. Any predatory finfish like barracuda and bonito in the vicinity also get in their licks.
The surface of the water looks nervous because of so much activity going on just below, and because of frequent splashes from feeding critters and frantic anchovies skittering across topwater.
These are the life-and-death forces of nature that are the reality for species other than us humans and our pets. These feeding frenzies are deeply awe-inspiring and are spectacles at sea that I have come to love and respect. Ma Nature is a wild one!
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
