Kayaking La Jolla; Much More Than An Adventure

 Living near or traveling to San Diego's coast provides plenty of opportunities to enjoy fun on the water with family and friends. Rent a jet-ski or sailboat in Mission Bay or take a harbor cruise from San Diego's downtown waterfront. These activities are great, but fall slightly short from kayaking through one of San Diego's beautiful marine protected areas, like La Jolla's Ecological Reserve.
 Perhaps I'm bias, but combining the adventure of kayaking the pacific with sea life playing and feeding in their natural habitat, as well as captivating sites and information regarding La Jolla's rich underwater park and sea caves,  certainly mixes up a recipe for a vacation highlight. Not only will your family and friends be talking about it years to come, but hopefully we've ignited a passion for our beloved seas and all the living creatures that reside in them.

There is a profound connection between us and the ocean:

The air we breathe -Ocean plants produce half of the world's oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. They regulate our weather and aid in cloud formation to bring us fresh water.

The food we eat -not only sea food, but kelp and algae are used in making a wide variety of foods including various dairy free products and frozen foods. They are also found in domestic pet foods to help nourish our beloved pets.

Medicines we take -there are various beneficial sea derived ingredients in medicines used to fight cancer, alzheimer's, heart disease, viruses, and various other diseases.

Our Jobs and Economy -One in 6 jobs in the united states is marine related and more than $128 billion in GDP annually results from ocean tourism, recreation, and living resources.

The Ocean and its' eco-systems play a huge role in our health and well-being.

Not only do our La Jolla sea caves and ecological reserve kayak tours shine light on our connection to our wondrous marine eco-systems, but our snorkeling tours, bike tours and guided hikes do as well.

Hike Bike Kayak tour guides are sure to bring you on an adventure, but will leave you feeling much closer to the sea. We strive to be stewards of the ocean and inspire all who join us to share ocean awareness with others.

Kayak Tour Updates

A few Sea Cave Kayak Tour and Whale Watching Kayak Tour updates for the month of February:

• Our Sea Caves Kayak Tours have encountered plenty of sea lion playing and feeding along the 7 caves and around the kelp forest.
• We've spotted a mother gray whale with her juvenile calf just outside the kelp forest. 
• It's Harbor Seal pupping season! Harbor seals with their newborn pups lounge along Children's Pool, napping and taking in the sunshine. 
• We've spotted 3 double crested cormorants, which is atypical to the usual brandt's cormorants that we see on the cliffs nearly year round. 
• Squat lobster (tuna crabs) on the rocks and shore. 

• On our kayak whale watching tours we've seen record breaking gray whale numbers. On one tour alone, we counted 22 whales!
• we've also encountered super pods of pacific white sided dolphin-one tour guide estimated 300+ 
• we've seen numerous spouts and flukes...and a total of 8 breaches.
• a pod of common dolphin swam around our kayaks just outside the kelp forest.
• as always, sea lion playing and feeding nearby.
• randomly spotted 2 leopard sharks heading in from our whale watch (unusual for this time of year)

Feb. 25th, 2015 from above Scripps Institute of Oceanography

Recaps Of Our Recent Whale Watching Kayak Tours

We've been seeing gray whales galore on our whale watching kayak tours for the past few weeks! So far this season up until today, 1,005 gray whales have been sighted off the coast of Southern California. This is 990 southbound whales, including approximately 39 calves, and 15 northbound whales already.

This past Saturday marked one of the most exciting whale watching kayak tours at Hike Bike Kayak. We counted numerous whales, with spouting, breaching, and spy hopping in the mix!

Breaching is a common behavior but we don't really know why one gray whale breaches at a particular time. There are a few hypothesis regarding a breach...It can be used as a method for stunning prey. Also, to communicate ("Here I am!"), power demonstration, or perhaps playfulness. Due to gray whales having so much whale lice (3 different species) they can get extremely itchy, so they might breach to dislodge some of those pesky creatures on their backs. Some gray whales stop along their migration to rub on sandy substrates, like off of Zuma beach, CA...which can help rid them of their lice. Sadly, some may breach to try and free themselves from fishing net entanglements. Humpback whales have been seen breaching multiple times in a row after freeing themselves from a net, most likely to test their bodies to make sure they are free, and also for the sheer relief of it.

Here is a close-up video of a breach one year ago today, off the coast here in San Diego!

Imagine being in a kayak and recording this great footage on your go pro or other camera!!

How Do Gray Whales Find Their Way to HBK?

 The migration route of the pacific gray whale is often described as the longest known mammal migration in the animal kingdom and can be easily observed along the California coastline. At Hike Bike Kayak, we track their route and locate grays offshore on our whale watching kayak tour. We educate our tours on every aspect of the migration, providing up close and personal observation of these large mammals in the wild. 

From our last post, we know the reasons why these gentle giants migrate, but how are they able to find their way south to the warm waters of Baja, Mexico?

Marine Biologists speculate that fewer hours of daylight, changes in water temperature, changes in food supply as the northern pack ice increases, or changing hormones involved in breeding, trigger the migration south. Experts believe the whales keep time with an inner biological clock. Whatever the reason, gray whales leave their feeding grounds in late summer and begin the journey down the pacific coast.

The coastline helps them to navigate the long distance. Since gray whales are known to be benthic (bottom) feeders, they have evolved with an orientation toward the seafloor where they scoop up amphipods in their baleen. The deep waters far offshore require more energy to feed, hence traveling closer to shore. 

Gray whales are a very curious mammal. They will thrust themselves vertically above the surface of the water to view their surroundings. This behavior is known as "spyhopping", which allows them to pinpoint known landmarks that help them stay on course. Whether it be a familiar lighthouse on a cliff, or recalled coastal boating docks, the Gray Whale will identify such places to navigate from Alaska to Baja and back, their twelve-thousand mile round trip migration. 

We've been seeing multiple spouts from our whale watching kayak tours! You don't want to miss out on this memorable experience!!

The Gray Whales are Heading to La Jolla

  This is the time of year at Hike Bike Kayak when we get really amped up in anticipating the gray whale migration through La Jolla. According to the gray whale census, record increases of whale sightings have been documented these past few years. Volunteers of the American Cetacean Society perch along the coastline of Southern California to count whales southbound and northbound, this helps to give us a good idea of our upcoming whale watching season. 2013-2014 whale watching season at Hike Bike Kayak, was the best one yet, with more females and juvenile gray whales spotted than previous years. Our Whale Watching Kayak Tour is the best way to see these gentle giants up close and personal in their natural habitat.

December 1st begins the Cetacean Society's watch. 2013-2014 Season:

Southbound ------------------- 1214
Northbound ------------------- 1741
Total ------------------------ 2955
Calves South ------------------- 14
Calves North ------------------ 286

This gives us an idea of the large numbers to expect for the 2014-2015 season!

The gray whale migration route from Alaska to Baja, California and back again:

On our next post: speculation and facts on how they are able to find their way!

Year Round Sea Cave Kayaking!!

  Despite the Autumn month, we are still basking in sunshine down in La Jolla. Come paddle out with us on a sea caves kayaking tour to remember. At Hike Bike Kayak, we do not overpopulate our tours and prefer to take smaller groups. Why? Well, you can get an up close experience with sea life in their natural habitat. No bumping boats and competing for views of playful sea lions, diving sea birds, and colorful fish. No waiting in a long line of kayaks to enter the sea cave. No missing out on awesome information about our marine eco-systems and the sea creatures that call them home. 

  Our intimate guided kayak tours are not only a great way to get educated about our environment and sea life, but are a wonderful way to spend time with family and friends. 

  Many of our tour-goers enjoy taking in the peacefulness and beauty of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve. Which is La Jolla's infamous underwater park. 

  This is not a seasonal endeavor either. Hike Bike Kayak runs kayak tours all year round! T'is the season for kayaking in La Jolla with HBK!

 

These are great photos from our Trip-Advisor reviewers!!

California Sea Lions Vs. Harbor Seals

     The California Sea Lion and Harbor Seal can both be found inhabiting La Jolla's Ecological Reserve and Children's Pool of La Jolla. They are always a fun sight from our Sea Cave Kayak Tours, where they swim, play, and feed right near our kayaks. These local marine creatures are part of the Pinniped family, which means "fin-footed" or "feather-footed"...The Walrus is also a Pinniped, but they are found further north on the coasts of Alaska, Russia, Canada, and Greenland.
     It can be difficult to distinguish between the Sea Lion and Harbor Seal. As you can see in the photographs below, they appear to be very similar. One might easily mistake a sea lion for a seal from our Plunge Bike Tour, which bikes along the coast to observe the local marine life and catch the scenic views.
Both seals and sea lions are really cute, basking in the sunshine, but there are a few distinct physical differences to notice:

Sea Lion (top) Harbor Seal (Bottom)

Sea lions have small ear flaps, while seals have ear holes. 

Sea lions have longer and large foreflippers, which are hairless. 
Seals have short, hairy foreflippers with claws. 

Sea lions have long smooth whiskers, while seals have crimped or beaded whiskers.

Some of their unique features allow them to move around differently:

Sea lions rotate their hindflippers beneath them to help them walk on land.
Seals move on land by wiggling their bellies and keeping their hindflippers straight.

Sea lions swim underwater using foreflippers like the wings of a bird.
Seals swim by steering with their foreflippers and powering with their hindflippers.


All of this cool information and much more can be learned from any of Hike Bike Kayak's kayaking tours or bike tours.