Recent Sightings

A bright and sunny day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. No wind, no fog, excellent visibility.

✅ 6 humpback whales – all singles; one breached once

✅ No harbor seals – high tide

✅ 1 sea lion swimming north

✅ 1 great blue heron

✅ 1 red-tailed hawk

✅ Approximately 100-125 brown pelicans flying north

 

Windy but no fog today at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. The wind was blowing 24 mph with gusts of 36 mph from the north northwest.  This resulted in an ocean covered with large and frequent whitecaps.

💠 6 humpback whales; three sets of two; each set of two whales was within a feeding group of brown pelicans and gulls; we watched as both the whales and the seabirds persistently pursued their prey which was most likely schools of northern anchovies.
*one group was so close to shore that we could clearly see the whales’  heads as they rose above the surface of the water

💠1  Northern harrier

💠 2 American kestrels

💠 3 black oystercatchers on the rocks where the harbor seals haul out to rest

💠 No harbor seals seen

 

Today was quite cloudy at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. There was very little distinction between the sky, the ocean, and whale blows.

♦️ 1 humpback whale slowly swimming to the north

♦️ 6-8 harbor seals swimming around their haul out sites at high tide

♦️ 3 black oystercatchers

♦️ 4 black turnstones

♦️ 1 American kestrel

Unfortunately, the dense fog at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula resulted in zero visibility.

❇️ NO WHALES SEEN

❇️ 11 harbor seals at high tide

❇️ 67 brown pelicans flying north

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