Recent Sightings

It was a cloudy day at Gerstle Cove with little distinction between the ocean and the sky. There was some offshore fog but visibility was good.  Some limited sunshine did appear in the afternoon.

AT GERSTLE COVE:

🔶 No whales seen

🔶 17 harbor seals

🔶 1 red-tailed hawk

🔶 1 Northern harrier

🔶 1 brown pelican

🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻🔴🔻

We then headed to the Point Arena Lighthouse where it was quite windy and the ocean was covered with large whitecaps. The wind was blowing 12 mph from the north northwest with gusts 16 mph. There also was significant sun glare.

AT PAL:

🔶 3 southbound gray whales – all singles

🔶 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 322 southbound 🔶

🔶 1 great blue heron

🔶 2 black oystercatchers

 

It was a cloudy, windy day at the Point Arena Lighthouse. Blows were mostly bushy and they dispersed quickly. There was also fog offshore.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

✳️ 15 southbound gray whales – one trio, three pairs, and six singles

❇️ TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DAYE 🟰 319 southbound ❇️

🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧

✳️ 4 harbor seals hauled out and 8 swimming around the rocks at high tide

✳️ 5 black oystercatchers

✳️ 1 great blue heron

✳️ 1 white-tailed kite

✳️ 1 bufflehead

✳️ 2 American kestrels

Observations today were from the beautiful Mendocino Headlands.  It was cloudy to begin the day  and gradually became sunny.  We had very good visibility.

💠 9 southbound gray whales – two groups of two and five singles

💠 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 304 southbound 💠

Like yesterday, the day began quite cloudy, but the ocean was calm with little to no wind. We had excellent visibility tot he horizon.  By midday, sunshine provided better distinction between the sky and the ocean and blows were more easily detected.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:

🔺14 southbound gray whales – four groups of two and six singles

🔺 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ↪️  295 southbound 🔺

♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹♦️🔹

🔺 63 harbor seals – outgoing tide

🔺 2 American kestrels

🔺 2 great blue herons

🔺 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔺 2 black oystercatchers

🔺 1 black phoebe

🔺 1 female hooded merganser

 

 

Today,  as we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., may we ALL work together to keep his  dream alive.

 

Our day began with considerable cloudiness with a gray sky and gray but calm ocean.  Despite this, visibility was good and blows could be detected. Sunshine came through in mid day which greatly improved the distinction between the ocean, the sky, and whale blows, but cloudiness returned to end afternoon.

AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA :

🔆 24 southbound gray whales – one group of three, five groups of two, and eleven singles

🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 281 southbound 🔆

❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎❎

🔆 72 harbor seals

🔆 2 American kestrels

🔆 6 brown pelicans flying north

🔆 1 Ferruginous hawk

🔆 1 great blue heron

🔆 1 great egret – the heron  and the  egret flew off together

🔆 1 red-tailed hawk

🔆 1 black oystercatcher