Recent Sightings

Although it was sunny and clear at some locations along the coast, the fog kept rolling in at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula greatly reducing our visibility.

We did see:

🔆 46 harbor seals

🔆 1 sea lion swimming south

🔆 groups of brown pelicans feeding upon anchovies

🔆 1 great blue heron

Today we also had the good fortune of meeting an amazing young man, William, who is undertaking an adventurous journey from Austin, Texas to Vancouver on his bicycle to raise money for the protection of his favorite animals, whales!!

You can follow his journey on his Instagram page at Willy_onbike.

When the morning fog lifted, we headed out to look for whales at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula and Saunders Reef.

🔴 NO WHALES SEEN AT EITHER SITE

AT PAL, we observed:

🔶 56 harbor seals

🔶 1 great blue heron

🔶 feeding groups of brown pelicans

We looked for whales today from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula and Saunders Reef.

At PAL, we observed:

🔷 one whale that we were unable to identify with certainty; we suspect it was a humpback; we saw the whale blow three times and then he or she vanished

🔷 60 harbor seals

🔷 1 great blue heron

🔷 groups of brown pelicans diving into the ocean feeding upon anchovies

🟣 NO WHALES SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/science-conservation/conservation/cetacean-conservation/stranding-necropsy/whale-stranding-press-materials

We did not observe any whales today at various locations from Gualala, to Saunders Reef, to the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.

Shari Goforth, however, did photograph a possible blue whale or finback whale this morning which she first saw off Gualala Point and then off Ollies straight which is just south of Anchor Bay and north of downtown Gualala. Very exciting!!

Orcas were also seen in our area in recent days. Christopher Dewees reported seeing two,large male orcas just south of Salt Point near Ocean Cove on Friday, June 20th at about 7:30 pm. One of the males had a large V-shaped chunk on the back side of its dorsal fin. The two orcas were observed feeding and circling around for about 30 minutes. Chris also saw breaching humpbacks offshore on that windy night.
What thrilling sights to see and we thank Chris very much for sending us this important report. Much appreciated.

Next, John Batchelor, reported and photographed two orcas off Gualala on Sunday evening, June 22! Scott sent his photographs to several orca specialists and Dr. Josh McInness identified them as transient orcas within the inner coast sub-population, individuals T-125-A and T-128. These orcas were last seen off the coast of Oregon on June 13th. This is also a thrilling observation and great work by John to photograph them. Thank you very much, John.

At PAL:

🔸 62 harbor seals

🔸 1 great blue heron

🔸 large groups of brown pelicans diving into the ocean to feed