Author: tmercer

Sounding the Alarm for North Pacific Grey Whales | MERS Marine Education & Research Society

EVENT: On May 15, the 21st dead gray whale washed ashore in Washington state. We highly recommend attending the webinar below to learn more about why this is happening. You can take a look at Cascadia Research Collective’s working list of stranded gray whales here: https://cascadiaresearch.org/working-list-of-gray-whale-strandings-in-2026/ Please visit the website below to register for this…

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, conditions were sunny, clear, windy (20 mph with gusts of 31 mph from the northwest) and the ocean was covered with large whitecaps. ⭐️ 2 humpback whales moving slowly to the south ⭐️ 106 harbor seals – 15 pups ⭐️ 2 great blue herons ⭐️ 1 osprey ⭐️ 2…

The morning fog gave way to a gray, overcast day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. Once the fog lifted, the wind began to blow strongly. Despite this, visibility was very good. ❇️ NO WHALES SEEN ❇️ 94 harbor seal – 15 moms with pups ❇️ 2 sea lions ❇️ 37 brown pelicans 🔷 NO…

After two days of very windy conditions , today began with significant fog.  The fog eventually did recede to offshore but it remained quite gray and cloudy at the Point  Arena Lighthouse. We did find sunnier conditions at Saunders Reef.  Visibility at both  sites was limited. 🔆 AT SAUNDERS REEF: 💠  NO WHALES SEEN 💠…

We had sunny but increasingly windy conditions today at beautiful Gerstle Cove. The wind was blowing at 15 mph with gusts of 23 mph from the northwest. This created an ocean covered in whitecaps. ✳️ 9 humpback whales – eight singles and one group of two ✳️ approximately 30 sea lions hauled out and several…

Cloudy conditions at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. 3-5 foot waves and offshore haziness. 🔶 13 humpback whales –  three sets of two’s and seven singles- many breaches including two full breaches side by side and lots of tail lobbing 🔶 81 harbor seals – 11 moms and pups 🔶  12 sea lions 🔶 1…

🟨 AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA: 🔳 13 humpbacks whales  – one group of three, two groups of two, six singles; one full breach 🔳 2 gray whales foraging 🔳 78 harbor seals – 10 moms with pups 🔳 1 great blue heron 🟨 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE. ↘️ 🔵   344…

Clouds prevailed but there was some filtered sunshine upon the calm ocean today. Overall visibility was good although we had limited distinction between the sky, the ocean, and whale blows.  There were about 25 fishing boats spread out throughout our observation area. 🔆 AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA: 🔷 3 humpbacks – a deuce…

It was a cloudy day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula but some sunshine did break through later in the day. The ocean was calm and there was a layer of haze offshore. 🔷 3 humpbacks – two moving slowly south together and one single traveling in a southwest direction 🔷 77 harbor seals –…

Our first hour this morning at Gerstle Cove was in the fog. Fortunately, , the fog did lift and eventually the clouds were replaced by sunshine. There was a slight breeze and the ocean was calm. ♦️ NO WHALES SEEN ♦️approximately 35 sea lions resting on a large rock and being quite vocal; an additional…

On this windy, sunny day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, there was a thick layer of offshore haze that limited our visibility to about 4 miles out. We received a report that a sub-adult female gray whale washed ashore at Virgin Creek beach on the north end of Fort Bragg.  Sarah Grimes, the stranding…