Recent Sightings

Dense fog at both Point Arena Lighthouse and Saunders Reef throughout the day:

 * no whales seen at either site

 At PAL:

 * 41 harbor seals

 * 1 red-tailed hawk

 * 1 black oyster catcher

 * 1 American kestrel

Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:  A cloudy, gray, foggy morning  gave way to a sunny afternoon with excellent visibility to the horizon allowing us to see:

 * 8 blue or possibly fin whales – very tall blows visible 5-6 miles out but no other distinct markings could be seen making a positive identification not possible

 * 10 humpback whales staying in the area to forage and feed

* 1 red-tailed hawk

* 1 Northern harrier

* 2 American kestrels

* 2 black oyster catchers

* no harbor seals hauled out due to high tide

 At Saunders Reef:

 * 4 humpbacks

 * 1 blue or fin whale, too far out to positively identify

Observations from beautiful Gerstle Cove in Salt Point State Park:

good visibility with an offshore haziness, sunny and warm

* 6 humpbacks in the area foraging and feeding

* 26 harbor seals

* 2 black oyster catchers

* brown pelicans

 * cormorants

 After three days of persistent, dense fog, we finally had a sunny, warm, beautiful  day with excellent visibility.

At the Point Arena Lighthouse we observed:

 * 9 humpbacks

 * 10 harbor seals

 * 1 red-tailed hawk

 * 1 American kestrel

 * 3 black oyster catchers

 At Saunders Reef we saw:

* 1 humpback

Shari Goforth-Eby observed 3-4 humpbacks at Gualala Point

On Saturday, September 21, Sara Bogard will present “Seals Beside Us: Harbor Seals and Other Inhabitants of the Point Arena Lighthouse and Stornetta Public Lands” at the Point Arena Lighthouse at 4:00 pm.

Another day of dense fog prevented us from observing whales at any location.