{"id":611923,"date":"2026-04-28T21:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611923\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T21:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:01:19","slug":"rare-sea-mammal-just-appeared-off-in-monterey-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/611923\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare sea mammal just appeared off in Monterey Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rarely seen dolphin <\/a>with a white underbelly was spotted off the coast of Monterey Bay this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morgan Quimby, a photographer and researcher with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, captured photos of the mammal while out with Monterey Bay Whale Watch. Quimby told SFGATE the animal was a northern right whale dolphin, a species that is rarely seen close to shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come from different areas of the world or the country to see them here,\u201d Quimby said.<\/p>\n

She added that the species typically lives farther offshore in deep ocean waters, but Monterey Bay\u2019s unique underwater geography can bring them closer to land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur submarine canyon makes them a little bit closer to shore and easier to see,\u201d she said. \u201cWe definitely don\u2019t see them very often, though. They\u2019re probably our least seen dolphin species.\u201d<\/p>\n

The species, known scientifically as Lissodelphis borealis, is found throughout the North Pacific and notably lacks a dorsal fin. The dolphins typically travel in groups of 100 to 200 and can leap more than 20 feet above the water\u2019s surface, according to NOAA Fisheries<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the photographed dolphin appeared to have white\u00a0features,\u00a0Quimby said it should not be confused with another famous white dolphin dubbed Casper. That animal, which has also been seen in Monterey Bay, is a separate\u00a0all-white Risso\u2019s dolphin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cCasper would have nothing to do with [northern right whale dolphins] being in the bay,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s a separate species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exactly what brought the pod closer to the shore is unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be temperature, it could be food availability,\u201d Quimby said. \u201cIt could be a variety of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike migrating humpback whales, which follow more predictable seasonal patterns, northern right whale dolphins \u201ccome and go throughout the year,\u201d Quimby noted. However, they are more likely to be seen during spring and early fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quimby urged the public to keep their distance with dolphins when out on the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey definitely shouldn\u2019t approach them. If the dolphins come over to them, that\u2019s great. They just have to be aware of their engine to make sure not to drive over the pod,\u201d Quimby said. \u201cThe dolphins are pretty playful, so they might come up to their bow or wake to ride the pressure waves of the boat, but you definitely don\u2019t want to intentionally go right over the pod or toward the pod. You don\u2019t want to change their behavior or risk injuring them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rarely seen dolphin with a white underbelly was spotted off the coast of Monterey Bay this weekend.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,245652,243150,201],"class_list":["post-611923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-sfgcentralca","tag-sfgnews","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}