The sightings of a 6-foot leatherback turtle, a great white shark attacking a sea lion, thousands of dolphins and dozens of humpback whales this week have turned the ocean off the Bay Area coast into a wildlife cabaret. 

It’s difficult to say which sighting was the most spectacular, said Roger Thomas, skipper of the 56-foot Salty Lady, who reported the events in a series of trips in the past week. 

“The wildlife on the ocean is just unbelievable this year,” Thomas said. “So many of us in the Bay Area don’t realize the opportunities we have to view wildlife, the diversity just off our coast.” 

Leatherback turtle: On a wildlife cruise sponsored by the Oceanic Society on Sunday, the rare giant turtle was spotted at some distance near the surface. Thomas stopped his boat 60 feet away and turned off the engine. “The turtle swam right up to the boat,” Thomas said. “Everybody got close-up pictures of it, really spectacular, and really rare.” The turtle was 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. On the same trip, those aboard sighted 29 humpback whales, several hundred Pacific white-sided dolphins, and an array of seabirds, including albatross, tufted puffin and shearwaters. 

Great white shark attack: About 150 feet off Saddle Rock, the rock that is located just off the southern end of the southeast Farallon island, Thomas’ eyes were drawn to the dozens of birds working the surface. As he homed in, he saw a pool of blood the size of his boat. “Then this shark came out of the water, grabbed a sea lion and ripped off a big chunk,” Thomas said. “He’d go down and eat it and then come back for more. He was banging around, with its head out of the water. This went on for 15 minutes.” The spectacle both thrilled and chilled. “It’s gruesome,” Thomas said, “but it’s also nature at its finest.” 

Acres of dolphins: On an albacore fishing trip, Thomas sighted a rare sei whale, about 40 feet long, known for its unusual dorsal fin that looks like a half moon. Shortly later, after an albacore was landed, a massive herd of white-sided dolphins arrived. The boat was running at about 10 knots and the dolphins came right at the boat, hurdling over the wake and jumping the bow line, dozens at a time. “In all, there were thousands,” Thomas said. “It was crazy.” This occurred 15 miles west of Guide Seamount, which is located about 40 miles southwest of Half Moon Bay. 

Info: Whale hot line, (415) 474-0488; or oceanic-society.org; book an Oceanic Society nature trip, (415) 474-3385. 

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/13/SPO4S3G1U.DTL  This article appeared on page D - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle