Category: Daily Observations

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…

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…

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.

Dense fog at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula: * no whales seen * 4 harbor seals * 1 red-tailed hawk * 1 American kestrel The fog at Saunders Reef retreated enough for a short while for us to see 1 humpback whale .  

Observations at Saunders Reef in the morning: * 4 foraging humpbacks Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula: * 4 foraging humpbacks * 29 harbor seals * 1 red-tailed hawk * 1 American kestrel * 4 Black Oyster Catchers   Observations from Saunders Reef in the afternoon: * 6 foraging humpbacks * 1 red-tailed hawk

Ship strike likely killed beached young fin whale A juvenile female fin whale, measuring 40 feet in length, had washed up on 10 Mile Beach north of Fort Bragg. Veterinarian Pádraig Duignan, director of pathology at the Marine Mammal Center,  said that the preliminary cause of her death is ship-strike blunt force trauma. The whale was…

We were notified today that a female fin whale has washed ashore on Ten Mile beach in MacKerricher State Park.  A necropsy will be performed to hopefully determine the cause of death and to gather as much information as possible about this whale. Only a blue whale is larger than a fin whale.   The…

Observations at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula: * no whales seen * 79 harbor seals * 2 ospreys * 2 American kestrels No whales seen at Saunders Reef

Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula:  * no whales seen * 59 harbor seals * 1 osprey  * 1 black oyster catcher  * 1 American kestrel Observations from Saunders Reef: * no whales seen

Never Forget: 9/11/2001 Always in our hearts  ❤️❤️💙💙   Observations from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula: * no whales seen * 16 harbor seals  * 1 osprey  * 1 Northern harrier Observations at Saunders Reef: * no whales seen