Recent Sightings

Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:

* 2 humpbacks, one approximately 5 miles out, one  about 2 miles out

* 89 harbor seals

* 2 red-tailed hawks

* 1 Great blue heron

* 2 black oystercatchers

* 3 American kestrels

No whales seen at Saunders Reef.

After three days of heavy rain, wind, and extremely rough ocean conditions, we were able to observe today at both the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula and Saunders Reef.

No whales were seen at either site.

At PAL:

* 69 harbor seals

* 2 Great blue herons

* 3 American kestrels

* 1 bobcat sitting in the field

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we observed a foraging gray whale less than 500 yards from shore for approximately 90 minutes. He or she stayed primarily in the same area for this time and then  began to swim southward while remaining that close to shore.

Also seen at PAL:

* 89 harbor seals

* 1 great blue heron who snatched a gopher for lunch

* 2 red-tailed hawks

* 2 American kestrels

* 3 black oystercatchers

* 1 bobcat in the field carrying a gopher

 NO WHALES SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:

 * No whales seen

 * 71 harbor seals

 * 1 red-tailed hawk

 * 2 black oystercatchers

 * 2 American kestrels

 Observations from Saunders Reef:

 * 2 humpbacks

On a hike along the Salal Trail on the Sea Ranch this morning, Janet McElroy and I spotted a humpback whale within 500 yards of shore!! We watched it as it surfaced and exhaled as it slowly moved to the north. Quite a fantastic sighting.

The day got even better as we saw our first two southbound gray whales of this season at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula!! These two whales were within 1/2 mile of shore and they were traveling at different  speeds.  We watched them for about 30 minutes as they moved through our observation area.

 At PAL we also saw:

*6 -8 harbor seals swimming around the rocks near their haul out site

 * 2 black oystercatchers