One Highway Road Trip

First stop: Monterey San Carlos Beach = pure sea-lion soup 🦭 Looking at my pics now, I can still smell that funk—like low-tide kimchi meets wet Labrador. Never whiffed anything like it, 10/10 would inhale again. Monterey Bay is a National Marine Sanctuary, so the buffet is loaded. Every Sept-Dec migration season the anchovies & sardines roll in, and the whole food chain follows: humpbacks, orcas, sea otters, and—star of our show—California sea lions who turn the breakwater into a 24/7 burping sofa. 🌊 SAN CARLOS BEACH – VISITOR CHEAT-SHEET 📍 Where: walk south 3 min from Monterey Bay Aquarium; free street parking first 90 min. 🦭 Head-count: 200-800 animals Sept-Dec, 50-150 Jan-Aug (they commute). 💨 Odor level: solid 8/10—bring a bandana if you’re scent-sensitive. 📸 Best light: morning golden hour hits the breakwater = whiskers glow; afternoon back-light = silhouette drama. 🎧 Soundtrack: baritone burps, tenor barks, occasional pup squeak = free white-noise app. 🤿 QUICK BIO-BREAKDOWN Males: dark chocolate, 700 lbs, bark like drunk tubas. Females/pups: blonde, 200 lbs, higher pitch = squeaky toy. They only haul out here to rest between feeding frenzies; feeding itself happens offshore at night. Breeding = Channel Islands June-July; Monterey is basically their couch, not their bedroom. 📷 SHOT LIST THAT SLAPS 1️⃣ “Blubber-Pile Jenga” – stack of 12 bodies, only 6 visible heads. Wide-angle 16 mm, crouch low so pier rail disappears. 2️⃣ “Yawn-Flex” – wait for male to stretch; mouth opens 8 in—perfect teeth, perfect meme. Burst mode ≥ 10 fps. 3️⃣ “Splash-Landing” – one launches off the pier = cannonball. Shutter 1/1000 to freeze droplets. 4️orca “Human for Scale” – stand on pier edge, friend shoots downward; you tiny, sea-lion massive—Apple wallpaper vibes. 🚶‍♂️ 15-MIN ADD-ONS Breakwater walk – 1 mi each way; sea-lions under your feet, otters raft outside, cormorants use rail as toilet. San Carlos Beach SCUBA ramp – if you’re certified, giant kelp forest starts 50 yd out; you’ll hear the colony’s chorus underwater (true story). Coastal Recreation Trail – rent e-bike at Monterey Bay Adventures, cruise 4 mi to Lovers Point for Victorian-house + surf combo. #US #CA #Monterey