Rare Blue Whales in the Monterey Bay - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

Rare Blue Whales in the Monterey Bay

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MONTEREY,Calif- It's a sight rarely seen on the Central Coast, blue whales coming in to feed.

Today I hopped on board with the Monterey Bay Whale Watch Company to get a glimpse of the elusive blue whale, "The blue whale is the largest whale thats ever lived on earth. There was one recorded at 110 feet long and thats the largest on earth bigger than any dinosaur," said Nancy Black. Black is marine biologist who tracks whales in the Monterey Bay.

Central Coast News got the rare opportunity to go whale watching. Black took us towards Point Lobos to the edge of the deep sea canyon. The boat doesn't have sonar, so everyone is keeping their eyes peeled for a blow!

Just off Point Lobos I had my first look at a blue whale, it was magnificent. A once in a lifetime opportunity because there are only 10,000 blue whales left in the world.

Because of their size and oil inside them blue whales were one of the most hunted whales for centuries. By the early 1900s they were almost extinct and rebuilding the species is not easy, "It's been 7 years since we've seen that many and it's been about that long since we have seen that much krill in the water which attracts the whales," said Black.

Krill is the only thing blue whales eat. The tiny shrimp like creatures cluster together and whales ingest hundreds of thousand of them at a time, "It seems like they are using long range communication. Blue whales can hear each other from a couple miles away so when a couple whales come here and find there's krill here we suspect they are communicating to other whales," said Black.

Tuesday we were lucky to see six blue whales up close. Black says there are close to 50 blue whales in the area but no one knows how long they will stick around, "They could be here for several weeks they could be here for a few more days or they could be here till then end of the season which is in November," said Black.

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