Author: tmercer

After three days of stormy weather that brought rain, wind, fog, and hail, today was sunny with an 11 mph NW wind with gusts of 15 mph. It was challenging to spot whale blows as they disappeared very quickly as they rolled on the surface of the ocean. At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we…

Today’s weather was wild and unpredictable. We had rain, wind, hail, rumbles of thunder and lightning, and bright sunshine. At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we observed: * 4 northbound gray whales – all singles * our first gray whale mother/calf pair‼️ * 58 harbor seals * 1 brown pelican * 5 killdeer * 1…

After a full day of rain and wind yesterday, today brought sunny skies, light wind, and excellent viewing conditions. We had the great pleasure of observering whales in the afternoon with two Marine Science Technology classes taught by Melissa Jenkins at Point Arena High School. The students very quickly became quite good at spotting the…

Today was a bit windier than yesterday with winds at 10 mph from the south and gusts of 15 mph. Visibility was good. At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we observed: * 13 northbound gray whales – one loose group of three, 3 duos, and 4 singles TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE (as of…

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, winds were NW at 6 mph with gusts of 9 mph. It was partly sunny and visibility was quite good. We observed: * 14 northbound gray whales -one group of three, two duos, and seven singles; One member of the group of three breached twice; as we watched this…

We observed at Gerstle Cove today. The morning clouds gave way to bright sunshine and excellent visibility. It was windy and blows were often batted down quickly. * 15 northbound gray whales – two groups of two and eleven singles TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE (since November 1, 2024) = 🔆 84 northbound 🔆…

Good visibilty for most of the day interrupted at times by fast moving thin waves of fog. Very little wind. Blows were easy to spot. At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula we observed: * 4 northbound gray whales – one pair and two singles * 42 harbor seals * 2 American kestrels * 1 red-tailed…

Today we observed at Gerstle Cove which is part of Salt Point State Park in northern Sonoma County. We had excellent visibility most of the day until late afternoon when the wind and whitecaps increased. We observed: * 21 northbound gray whales – twelve singles, three sets of two, and one group of three All…

With winds at 17 mph and gusts of 26 mph, visibility at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula was poor. The surface of the ocean was covered with whitecaps and wind blown spray. * NO WHALES SEEN GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE (as of November 1, 2024) = 🔆 37 northbound 🔆 391 southbound 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 *…

We had a persistent 15 mph wind with gusts of 25 mph. Although the day was sunny and visibility was good, there were many whitecaps on the ocean. Most blows stayed quite low on the surface of the water. In the afternoon, a front came through brining some light rain. At the Point Arena Lighthouse…

On this cloudy day at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we observed: * 1 southbound gray whale * 5 northbound gray whales – 3 singles and one set of two GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE (since November 1, 2024) = 🔆 27 northbound 🔆 391 southbound 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 * 43 harbor seals * 2 great blue…

At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we encountered several squalls passing though with rain and increased wind, and the ocean was covered with whitecaps. Blows were batted down quickly. We observed: * 4 northbound gray whales – all singles GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE (since November 1, 2024) = 🔆 22 northbound 🔆 390 southbound…