Recent Sightings

Although it was cloudy and gray at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, visibility was quite good.  The ocean was mostly calm with some whitecaps offshore at about 3 miles out.

🔆 12 humpback whales – two groups of three and six singles – we observed tail lobbing and breaching; one humpback was tail lobbing consistently for close to one hour

🔆 95 harbor seals

🔆 4 black oystercatchers

🔆 26 brown pelicans – some circling the Lighthouse, others flying south

🔆 1 great blue heron

❇️ AT SAUNDERS REEF:

🔆 6 humpback whales – two sets of two and two singles;  breaching and tail lobbing observed

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

Shari Goforth observed 7 humpbacks from Ollie’s Straight on Sunday, July 5, and three more from the Point Arena Pier on Monday morning, July 6. .  She saw breaching and chin slamming. Kate Block spotted at least two humpbacks on Sunday south of Gualala Point Island on the north end of the Sea Ranch.  Mel Smith reported seeing humpbacks on Monday. One was heading south, two were heading north, and one was further out. While on the Gualala Bluff trail late Sunday afternoon, Michael Coustier had an amazing sighting of between 5-8 humpbacks putting on quite a show by flipper slapping and breaching.

It remained cloudy and gray at Gerstle Cove today with very little distinction between the ocean and the sky. There were big swells but no whitecaps.

♦️2 humpback whales – singles that stayed within our view slowly swimming north and south for about 4 hours

♦️ 9 harbor seals

♦️ 4 sea lions

♦️ 2 osprey – one successfully hunted for a fish

♦️ 48 brown pelicans

Same offshore fog persisted at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula limiting our visibility to between 2-3 mikes out.

🟣 NO WHALES SEEN

🟣 92 harbor seals

🟣 1 great blue heron

🟣 11 brown pelicans

There was offshore fog today limiting our visibility to between 2 -3 miles off the peninsula at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.

✳️ NO WHALES SEEN

✳️ 94 harbor seals

✳️ 1 sea lion resting on his or her own rock by the harbor seal haul out site

✳️ 1 great blue heron

✳️ 14 brown pelicans

Observations today from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula.  Offshore fog, some wind and whitecaps.

💠 NO WHALES SEEN

💠 118 harbor seals

💠 2 great blue herons

💠 9 brown pelicans