Recent Sightings

Today we had a very calm ocean but the sky was cloudy and there was haziness making it difficult to see blows. However, when whale’s came to the surface to breathe, their backs and flukes were clearly visible.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA :

🟣 14 southbound gray whales – one trio, two duos, seven singles

🟣 77 harbor seals

🟣 1 bobcat hunting in the field

🟣 2 great blue herons

🟣 2 American kestrels

🟣 2 black oystercatchers

🟣 15 brown pelicans

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TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 126 southbound

Fantastic visibility and ocean conditions today allowed us to locate blows, observe heads, backs, and flukes, and track whales along their southbound journey.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔷 24 southbound gray whales – three groups of three, three groups of two, and nine singles; one whale breached twice; we did see one of the pairs split up as they swam through our observation area

🔷 79 harbor seals

🔷 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔷 1 Northern harrier

🔷 2 American kestrels

🔷 28 brown pelicans flying north, 14 flying south, and approximately 7 floating on the water

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TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 112

Today we were at Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park. Unfortunately, the wind was very strong, blowing 14 mph and gusting 27 mph out of the north northwest. These strong winds covered the ocean with whitecaps, waves between 12-15, huge swells, and high surf.

We observed:

💠 4 southbound gray whales – two pairs, difficult to track due to the ocean conditions

💠 2 Northern harriers

💠 34 brown pelicans flying north and 16 flying south

💠 1 American kestrel often seen hovering

💠 no harbor seals were seen due to high surf

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TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 88 southbound

We had a mix of sun and clouds today with very little wind to begin the day but the wind did pick up creating lots of whitecaps later in the day. It was fairly good visibility allowing us to spot blows easily.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

⚛️ 20 southbound gray whales – two groups of three, two groups of two, and ten singles: one of the singles breached once!

⚛️ 12 harbor seals – incoming tide

⚛️ 3 American kestrels

⚛️ 1 great blue heron hunting for food in the field

⚛️ 1 red-tailed hawk

⚛️ 22 brown pelicans

❇️❇️ TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 84 southbound ❇️❇️

Visibility was excellent today and we could see all the way to the horizon. It was mostly cloudy with some sun and the ocean was calm.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔶 5 Humpbacks – we first noticed a large group of feeding birds consisting mostly of gulls, with some pelicans and terns; as we watched them, the humpbacks showed up to join in the feeding

🔶 13 southbound gray whales – one group of four, one group of two and seven singles; many fluked and backs and heads were visible; most were swimming between one and two miles offshore and made steady progress south

🔶 48 harbor seals

🔶 1 red-tailed hawk

🔶 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔶 2 American kestrels

🔶 2 black oystercatchers

💠 Shari Goforth was observing today earlier in the day and reported seeing a deuce and a single southbound gray whale at Gualala Point.

💠 NO WHALES WERE SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 64 SOUTHBOUND