Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study

This image shows the fins of several gray whales above the surface of the water

Recent Sightings

  • MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2025

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    tmercer
    in

    Excellent conditions today with great visibility and distinction between the sky and the ocean.

    Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:

    * 15 southbound gray whales – one group of four, one group of three, two groups of two, four singles

    Total whales seen to date = 332 southbound

    * 39 harbor seals
    * 1 great blue heron
    * 2 black oystercatchers
    * 2 American kestrels

  • SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2025

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    tmercer
    in

    While hiking along the bluff  trial at the Sea Ranch, we spotted one gray whale foraging north of Walk On Beach. The whale swam north and south and  took long foraging dives about 200 years off shore.  Below please see a video of this whale taken by Janet McElroy. 

    Shari Goforth-Eby was the Point Arena Lighthouse and reported seeing 5 southbound grays – two duos and one single.

    Later in the day, we spotted 8 southbound grays – 3 duos and 2 singles at the Lighthouse.

     Total grays seen today = 13 southbound and 1 forager

    TOTAL WHALES SEEN TO DATE: 317 southbound

    * 73 harbor seals

    * 1 great blue heron

     * 3 American kestrels

     

  • SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2025

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    by

    tmercer
    in

    Observations from Saunders Reef:

    * 4 southbound gray whales, one group of two and two singles

       GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 304 southbound

     Today, we had the good fortune to watch and learn from Orca Network’s Way of Whales conference.

  • FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2025

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    tmercer
    in

    Shari Goforth received the following update on the gray whale with scars  she photographed yesterday at Gualala Point Regional Park Beach:

    Mark Sawyer:  There’s a match to a 2023 calf, known as “Panther”. The images I matched to, and the additional info, comes from the GEMM Lab at OSU. They saw Panther in October, with no vessel strike scarring. Panther’s mother is a PCFG individual. Very, very sad, but hopefully having a 3-month window in which the injury took place will lend some additional insight into how injuries heal over time.
    Lisa Hildebrand: Just tuning in here from the GEMM Lab. The CRC ID for this individual is 2603. Super sad to see it with this massive scar as it is still a very young whale. Calf in 2023 as Mark mentioned. From the photo caption it sounds like it was feeding and behaving normally so hopefully it makes it despite the traumatic wound! Thanks to everyone for sharing and passing on these details. Super interesting!

    At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we had limited visibility today due to an offshore fog and haziness and some wind.
    We observed:

    * 14 southbound gray whales – two pairs of two and 10 singles, one of the single whales breached twice

    GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 300 southbound

     * 76 harbor seals

    * 3 black oystercatchers

    * 1 Ferruginous hawk

    * 3 American kestrels

  • THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025

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    by

    tmercer
    in

    This foraging gray whale was seen not more than 150 yards off the beach at Gualala Point Regional Park.  Fortunately, Shari Goforth was alerted by friend and neighbor, Laverne Hancock,  who spotted the whale from her home early this morning.  I met Shari on the bluff trail above the beach and we watched this gray foraging.  Shari took these pictures and wrote the following description:

    23 Jan 2025 Gualala Point North, Beach/Sandbar:
    One gray whale in close to beach, appeared to be foraging.
    Pic 1: gray stayed low in the water. Photos revealed approx. 11 significant RIGHT lateral vessel propeller strike scars and one very large RIGHT-lateral, length-wise scar at the  dorsal hump involving the peduncle with cyamid lice present.
    Pic 2 is left-three quarter view.
    Pic 3 is the same gray spyhopping; and the eye can be seen in the dark area above the corner of the mouth.
    Posted to HappyWhale database for ID.


    We thank Shari Goforth very much for allowing us to share her amazing photos here.
    Due to offshore haziness, today’s visibility was not as good as previous days.

    At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we observed:

    * 17 southbound gray whales – one loose group of three, 3 pairs, and 8 singles; one of the single whales chin slapped twice, then did a half breach followed by two full breaches

    GRAY WHALES  SEEN TO DATE = 286 southbound

    * 63 harbor seals

    * 2 sea lions swimming north

     * 3 red-tailed hawks

    * 3 American kestrels