Recent Sightings

Like yesterday, the day began quite cloudy, but the ocean was calm with little to no wind. We had excellent visibility tot he horizon.  By midday, sunshine provided better distinction between the sky and the ocean and blows were more easily detected.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔺14 southbound gray whales – four groups of two and six singles

🔺 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ↪️  295 southbound 🔺

♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹

🔺 63 harbor seals – outgoing tide

🔺 2 American kestrels

🔺 2 great blue herons

🔺 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔺 2 black oystercatchers

🔺 1 black phoebe

🔺 1 female hooded merganser

 

 

Today,  as we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., may we ALL work together to keep his  dream alive.

 

Our day began with considerable cloudiness with a gray sky and gray but calm ocean.  Despite this, visibility was good and blows could be detected. Sunshine came through in mid day which greatly improved the distinction between the ocean, the sky, and whale blows, but cloudiness returned to end afternoon.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA :

🔆 24 southbound gray whales – one group of three, five groups of two, and eleven singles

🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 281 southbound 🔆

❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎

🔆 72 harbor seals

🔆 2 American kestrels

🔆 6 brown pelicans flying north

🔆 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔆 1 great blue heron

🔆 1 great egret – the heron  and the  egret flew off together

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

🔆 1 black oystercatcher

 

The day began with excellent visibility but fog did roll in later in the day greatly reducing our visibility.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🟩 13 southbound gray whales – we watched a group of two become three, then four, and eventually six whales were traveling south together- quite an awesome sight!!
one group of two and five singles

TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ➡️ 257 southbound

🟦 16 harbor seals with an outgoing tide

 

 

Another ideal day for observing whales. Calm ocean, no wind, excellent visibilty.  There was offshore fog which fortunately stayed offshore throughout our observation period.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

💠 36 southbound gray whales – one group of three, twelve pairs, and nine singles

💠 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 244 southbound 💠

🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆🔅🔆

💠 65 harbor seals

💠 3 brown pelicans flying south

💠 1 great blue heron

💠 2 American kestrels

💠 1 Northern harrier

 

 

 

 

 

Ideal observation conditions today! No wind, sunny, calm ocean, excellent visibility. Blows remained suspended and heads, backs, and flukes were visible.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔷 36 southbound gray whales – one group of four, three groups of three, six groups of two, and eleven singles;  one whale  breached four times

🔷 108 harbor seals

🔷 2 great egrets foraging  on the rocks

🔷 1 great blue heron

🔷 2 black oystercatchers

🔷 1 red-tailed hawk

🔷 1 American kestrel

🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦🟩🟦

🔶 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 208 southbound 🔶