Day of ‘unbelievable’ whale-watching off Farallons

The most amazing day of whale watching in 50 years off San Francisco was verified last week over the course of a few hours: 100 humpback whales, 20 to 30 blue whales, four fin whales, two minke whales, and roughly 200 Pacific white-sided dolphins and 100 Northern right whale dolphins, plus a spectacular close-up encounter on the surface with a giant leatherback turtle.

“This is phenomenal, just unbelievable,” said the Bay Area’s Hall of Fame skipper, Roger Thomas, who has run more than 10,000 trips on the ocean. “These are the largest counts of whales at a single spot I’ve ever heard of. In 50 years out there, I’ve seen a hundred humpbacks in one day, but they were spread out, not all in one area, and I’ve never heard of this variety.”

The captain who found the whales was Jared Davis, who was running the boat Salty Lady for a trip with the Oceanic Society. At times, Davis said, blue whales, humpbacks and dolphins approached right along the boat.

The location of the sightings, Davis said, was four to five miles west of Farallon Islands at the edge of the Continental Shelf, where the ocean bottom breaks from 400 feet deep to 3,000 feet deep (and beyond offshore to 13,000 feet deep).

West winds help push currents toward the steep slope of the shelf, and in turn, those currents are propelled upwards to bring cold, deep nutrient-rich water to the surface. That is the key for the rich marine food chain in the Gulf of the Farallones that is attracting marine mammals from across the ocean.

The primary feed right now is juvenile squid and deep-water krill, Thomas said. This past week, the word was out among commercial fishermen, and squid boats from up and down the coast descended on the Farallones for a piece of the action. At the same time, fishing for rockfish and lingcod, which love squid, has been sensational at nearby reefs, and marine birds have also swarmed to the area.

“The critters are everywhere,” Thomas said. “As long as the feed is around, they will stay. Those whales are following the feed.”

This weekend’s light weather system would not have much of an impact on the scene at the Farallones, he predicted. It’s not light showers that can break up the marine food chain, but high winds that can turn the ocean upside down, he said. “We anticipate they’ll still be there this weekend.”

Info: Oceanic Society, (415) 256-9524, www.oceanicsociety.org.

Ring-tail cats

TS note: After no reports for years, sightings of ring-tailed cats have been reported in the past few weeks in Marin, Novato and Yosemite. In Marin, it would be the first sighting in decades, according to scientists, who have posted wildlife cams to try and verify the reports. Ring-tail cats are not a cat at all, of course, but are more closely related to raccoons. They weigh about three pounds, with the body of a small weasel and a long raccoon-like striped tail that can be over 15 inches long. Ring-tails are shy and nocturnal, and most people have never seen one.

Phoenix Lake: Larry Minikes, well-known Marin conservationist, reported that he was riding his mountain bike on Eldridge Grade above Phoenix Lake when he saw what appeared to be a ring-tail. A trail runner, who goes by Zoe, then said she also saw a ring-tail, again near Phoenix Lake.

Novato : At 11:15 p.m. last Wednesday, on Ignacio Boulevard near College of Marin’s Indian Valley campus, Jesus Zamorano reported a clear sighting of a ring-tailed cat. “Reminded me of a lemur,” he said.

Yosemite: “Saturday evening, we were sitting on our fifth floor balcony at the Majestic Yosemite Hotel (the Ahwahnee), my boyfriend and I, along with our ‘balcony-mate’ from the neighboring room, saw what we, at first, believed was a squirrel running back and forth along the balcony railing. Turning on my flashlight, we easily recognized our visitor to be a ring-tailed cat. He (she?) posed a moment in the spotlight and, then, walked the entirety of the balcony twice.” — Michelle Renée Mozell

Sightings

Humpbacks at Pedro: A pod of humpback whales was also sighted last week offshore Pedro Point, at southern Pacifica in San Mateo County.

Bald eagles: With repeated sightings, the bald eagles near Casa de Fruta, east of Gilroy on Highway 152, are likely a mated pair that have taken up permanent residence, with the pair sighted again last week, this time by Steve Rabin. The same is likely true at the Benicia State Recreation Area, where Steve Flitcroft, wife Catherine and son Ben watched a mated pair of bald eagles for 20 minutes.

Exotic tanager: The monthly Audubon walk at Fort Mason in San Francisco last week turned up an exotic rust-colored tanager from South America that usually isn’t seen north of Los Angeles.

Yellow jacket bait

Fipronil: “Fipronil (the mammal safe insecticide) mixed in very low dose with hamburger or canned cat food, along with a pheromone attract, will kill the wasps at the nest. The theory is that the wasps will take the Fipronil back to the hive and feed it to all the wasps, including the queen, and take out the whole hive.” — John Arenz, Rubicon Trail Association

Termidor: “We purchased Termidor (a termite insecticide). You mix that with meat, tuna or the like, and set out bait stations. The wasps take it back to the nest and within 48 hours, no more yellow jackets.” — Wally Blem, Lake Almanor

Note from TS: Common sense says do not let your pets eat these baits, of course; both Fipronil and Termidor are often used for flea and tick control, so topical use is generally safe for your pets, according to the companies that produce them.

Tuna juice: “I accidentally let my indoor cat out last week, so I drained the liquid from a can of tuna into a small bowl and put it on the porch, hoping she’d smell it and come back. Instead, the yellow jackets dive-bombed the bowl and drowned. P.S. The cat came back too.” — Penny Springer, South Lake Tahoe

Big Fish Club

Giant catfish: At Lake Berryessa, a 42-pound channel catfish was caught after a hellacious fight, reported Rick Tietz, who was jigging for largemouth bass when the behemoth grabbed a Blade Runner jigging spoon.

Vacation sturgeon: Andy Dolich, the Bay Area sports executive best known for his work with the Oakland A’s, teamed up with his son and his nephew last week to catch and release a giant sturgeon, well over 200 pounds judging by the photo, on the Fraser River in British Columbia.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicle’s outdoor writer. He is the author of “Moon Northern California Hiking.” E-mail: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom