Recent Sightings

OBSERVATIONS AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

* NO WHALES SEEN

* 1 California Sea Lion swimming north

* 3 harbor seals swimming near haul out site

* 1 red-tailed hawk

NO WHALES SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

* 3 humpbacks

 * 9 harbor seals swimming near their haul out sites which were covered by high tide

* 1 Northern Harrier

 * 2 American kestrels

* 2 Great Blue Herons

NO WHALES SEEN AT SAUNDERS REEF

 

 

KGUA and Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study

PRESENT THE SIXTH ANNUAL

OCEAN LIFE SYMPOSIUM

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18^TH, 2024

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

on KGUA’s YouTube channel at

kgua.org

PLEASE JOIN US!!

 

This year’s speakers are:

 

*Josh McInnes –  Marine Mammal Research Unit at the  University of British Columbia

*Howard Garrett – Orca Network

*Richard Charter – The Ocean Foundation

*Michael Stocker – Ocean Conservation Research

*Aeon Bashir – Aeon for Ocean

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

• 3 humpback whales;  2 moving slowly to the north, one moving south

• 3 harbor seals swimming: their haul out sites covered at high tide

• 1 Northern Harrier

 We then observed from Saunders Reef where the wind was picking up and the surface of the ocean became covered in whitecaps.  No whales seen there.

Shari Goforth and many others had an amazing half-day pelagic trip on Monday, the 7th of October leaving from Noyo Harbor with Captain Richard Thornton of Anchor Charter Boats on the Kraken.  Here is a report of the cetacean species they observed written by Peter Pyle:

Within a half hour we were seeing Sooty, Pink-footed, and Buller’s shearwaters and had noticed whale spouts ahead. As we approached the spouts they became more abundant, and we started debating if they were Fins, Humpbacks, or Blues. It was a bit puzzling, for good reason: it turned out all three species were present and intermingling! On the captain’s fish-finder was a large dense mass of bait fish near the sea floor, which we surmised were Pacific Saury. For over an hour the whales were diving and spouting all around the boat, feeding on this bait mass, cruising hither and yon, and in the case of some Humpbacks, fighting each other in territorial or mate-related dispute, according to the experienced marine-mammal scientists on board. Several times we had all three species within one binocular view, something I had never seen before, and all three came close at times, including two pairs of Blue Whales surfacing and re-surfacing just 50 yards from the boat. Yow. Swirling flocks of shearwaters scurried between feeding whales, Black-footed Albatross came in to investigate, a Minke Whale made a brief appearance, and both White-sided Dolphins and Dall’s Porpoises at times came over to ride the bow in small groups. And all just 3-4 miles from shore!

On this summer-like day with excellent visibility, we spotted two humpback whales about 3 miles off the beach at Gualala Point Regional Park .  One of the whales breached once!

From the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we observed four humpbacks today.  We were informed by Lighthouse Museum and Tour Guide Associate, Joe May, that there were three humpbacks in the area much earlier in the day!

We also counted 38 harbor seals and  1 red-tailed hawk.  There were small groups, (7-10) of brown pelicans, some flying north, others flying south.

At Saunders Reef we did not see any whales.  We did see six beautiful meadowlarks.