Recent Sightings

Upon our arrival at Gerstle Cove this morning, we were greeted by thick fog. We patiently waited for the fog to recede and our perseverance paid  off. By late morning, we could see all the way to the horizon and the sea was very calm.

🔆 12 humpbacks – two sets of two and eight singles; two were swimming to the north and two were traveling south; the others stayed essentially in the same area;

the calm ocean allowed us to see backs, dorsal fins, and flukes quite clearly on the whales that were close to shore

🔆 1 harbor seal – waves were crashing on the rocks at their haul out site

🔆 1 California sea lion barking in the water

🔆 1 Northern harrier

🔆 116 brown pelicans flying north; 12 flying south

🔆 1 coyote running swiftly across the field

🔷 Humpback whales were reported by:

🔶 Kate Block and her husband – spread out along the northern coast of the Sea Ranch and off Gualala Point Island

🔶 Susan Ruschmeyer, Peggy Berryhill, and their house guests – at the Point Arena Lighthouse; some breaching

🔶 Shari Goforth – behind the Surf Market; one tail lobbing multiple times

🔶 Catherine Milker – just off Moat Creek and close to shore; multiple blows and breaching

🔶 Janet and Fred McElroy – at least six blows at once and breaching off Hearn Gulch – on Saturday,October 3; early in the evening

🔶 A guest renting a home on the bluff in Irish Beach

The ocean was choppy and there were many small whitecaps  today at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park. As the day progressed, the wind speed got significantly stronger.  Visibility was excellent most of the day.

✳️ 19 humpback whales –

*three sets of two and thirteen singles ranging from about 600 yards offshore to three miles out

*backs, dorsal fins, and flukes were visible

*we also saw  breaching from three whales

*most were traveling north but a few were going south and many were swimming north and then south

✳️ 10 harbor seals

✳️ 2 sea lions hauled out on the rocks

✳️ 2 osprey

✳️ 1 northern harrier

✳️ 1 kestrel

✳️ dozens of brown pelicans flying  mostly south but many also flying north

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we had good visibility despite the windy conditions.  Blows could be seen but they were knocked down rather quickly by the wind.

💠 2 humpback whales – singles less than one mile offshore

💠 70 harbor seals – out going tide

💠 Approximately 54 brown pelicans flying north and 23 circling the lighthouse

💠 1 great blue heron

Another glorious day with excellent visibility at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.  The wind did increase in speed as the day progressed.

🌊 16 humpback whales – three groups of two and ten singles; many full breaches, a tail breach, backs and flukes visible; these  whales were spread out and feeding from north to south along the peninsula from 1/2 mile to 4 miles offshore

🌊 55 harbor seals – in coming tide

🌊 1 sea lion resting on the rocks near, but not with the harbor seals

🌊  thousands  of shearwaters flying just above the surface of the ocean and diving in to catch fish, most likely anchovies; we observed these large feeding groups for several hours

While doing her harbor seal survey on the Point Arena-Stornetta lands, Sara Bogard alerted us to the presence of several  bottlenose dolphins swimming southward at a quick pace.

We went to Saunders Reef and Shari Goforth was able to photograph these dolphins as they swam past us there. We were delighted to learn that the bottlenose dolphin known as Sakura and her calf were a part of this group.

♦️ 3 humpback whales- 2 at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula seen by Sara Bogard and 1 at Saunders Reef

♦️ 5 – 7 bottlenose dolphins swimming southward

♦️ 1 red-tailed hawk

♦️ several brown pelicans flying south

 

Here is a photo of Sakura and her calf by Shari Goforth: