Recent Sightings

We faced variable conditions at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula today. It was quite windy, cloudy, the ocean was covered in whitecaps, there was a great deal of spray from breaking waves, and offshore fog.  At times, a rain shower would occur but generally cleared up quickly.

♦️ 2 northbound gray whales – both singles; round bushy blows that disappeared quickly; one fluked before diving; both were difficult to track for any great distance but certain each one was traveling north

💢 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE  ↪️

🔵   5 northbound          🔴  379 southbound

♦️ 35 harbor seals during an outgoing tide

♦️ 1 great blue heron foraging on the rocks at the seal haul out

♦️ 2 black oystercatchers

♦️ 2 brown pelicans flying north and 3 circling the area

We met with challenging conditions today at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park.  The ocean was covered with whitecaps and the wind was blowing 15 miles per hour with gusts of 20 miles per hour out of the northwest.  Both the wind and the whitecaps increased throughout the day.

✳️ NO WHALES SEEN

🟧 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE  ➡️

🔵  3 northbound          🔴  379 southbound

✳️ 32 harbor seals

✳️ 3 American kestrels

✳️ 2 black oystercatchers

✳️ 8 brown pelicans flying south

✳️ 1 Northern harrier

Today we had sunny conditions with excellent visibility.  The ocean was a bit choppy due to some wind and there were numerous small whitecaps.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA WW OBSERVED:

💠 2 southbound gray whales – both singles

💠 2 northbound gray whales traveling as a pair

🔺🔶 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰

🔵  3 northbound          🔴 379 southbound

 

💠 88 harbor seals

💠 3 American kestrels

💠 2 brown pelicans flying south

💠 2 black oystercatchers

💠 1 Northern harrier

 

 

 

After a rainy morning, the afternoon remained cloudy but visibility was quite good at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.  We did have some light rain showers to contend with but they passed quickly. The ocean was calm and wind was not a factor.

🔆 3 southbound gray whales – one pair and one single traveling fairly close to each other

✅🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰

🔴 377 southbound

🔵 1 northbound

🔆 120 harbor seals

🔆 7 brown pelicans flying south and 4-5 circling the area

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

🔆 2 American kestrels

On this windy day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we encountered challenging conditions for spotting blows. The wind was blowing 10 mph and gusting to 15 mph out of the north northwest.  The ocean was covered in whitecaps but visibility was quite good.

♦️ 1 northbound gray whale – we tracked this whale for at least one half mile to be certain he or she was traveling north; blows were bushy, rolled along the surface of the ocean and disappeared quickly; head was visible on some surfacings

♦️ 2 southbound gray whales were spotted earlier in the day from the Gualala Bluff Trail by Shari Goforth; a foggy patch obscured her view so she relocated to a spot north of where she made the initial sighting  and the whales did not show up there leading us to conclude they were traveling south

🟧 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE =

🔵 1 northbound

🔴 374 southbound

♦️ 84 harbor seals

♦️ 2 American kestrels

♦️ 4 brown pelicans circling in the area and feeding

♦️ 2 black oystercatchers