Recent Sightings

The following information has been published by NOAA Southwest Fisheries :

A new abundance estimate of the gray whale population that migrates along the West Coast suggests their numbers have increased since last year.

Researchers at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center estimate that the Eastern North Pacific gray whale population is between 15,930 to 20,530, or an average of about 17,750 gray whales. That is a jump from last year’s estimate—one of the lowest since counting began in the late 1960s—which numbered between 11,690 to 13,190, or about 12,890 whales.

The apparent increase is welcome news and similar to fluctuations seen in some previous years. Yet, it raises questions about the assumptions we have tested and used in the past to inform our analytical approaches to the population estimate. We are examining:

• The relationship between demographics and environmental variability
• Whale migratory cadence and timing
• Previous assumptions made about whale behavior used to calculate the abundance estimation

The new numbers are based on a count of whales migrating south prior to their return migration north. Many gray whales stranded along the West Coast this spring before reaching their Arctic feeding grounds near Alaska. Some of the stranded whales were skinny or emaciated, suggesting they are not finding sufficient food to sustain their round-trip migration between Alaska and Mexico.

With much less wind at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula compared to the previous week, we had a calm ocean. Unfortunately, it became quite foggy at about 3 miles offshore.

♦️ 2 humpback whales – staying within a ten degree range north and south for over three hours

♦️ 105 harbor seals

♦️ 1 great blue heron

♦️ 37 brown pelicans flying north and 11 flying south

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we had sunny, but  windy conditions with the wind blowing at 18 mph with 27 mph gusts from the north northwest.  There was an offshore haziness at about four miles out which limited our visibility.

❇️ NO WHALES SEEN

✳️ 82 harbor seals

✳️ 1 great blue heron

✳️ 2 black oystercatchers

✳️ 29 brown pelicans flying  north

We had cloudy conditions with moderate wind today at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.

💠 18 humpback whales- three sets of two and 12 singles

💠 106 harbor seals

💠 3 sea lions

💠 1 red-tailed hawk

Observations today were at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park. We had a sunny day with very good visibility at first but as the day progressed, the wind speed increased creating significant whitecaps on the ocean.  Spotting blows and tracking the whales became more difficult as the wind increased. The blows did not remain suspended and were knocked down very quickly.

♦️ 2 humpback whales –  about 200 yards apart

♦️ 9 harbor seals

♦️ 2 sea lions swimming north

♦️  2 osprey – both hunting for fish over the ocean

♦️ 63 brown pelicans flying south and 4 flying north