Category: Daily Observations
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2026
It was a sunny day with offshore fog and haziness. There were 8-10 foot swells on the ocean that created lots of spray. AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA: ♒️ 3 southbound gray whales – one pair and one single ♒️🔶 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 353 southbound 🔶♒️ ♒️ 63 harbor seals…
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2026
Bright, sunny day at the Point Arena Lighthouse today. Not much wind, excellent visibility. 🟣 7 southbound grays- two sets of two traveling together and three singles 🟨🟩 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE ➡️ 350 southbound 🟩🟨 🟣 54 harbor seals 🔵 1 great blue heron 🟣 4 black oystercatchers
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2026
Strong winds made it quite challenging to spot blows today as they were blown down quickly. The wind was 19 mph with gusts of 33 mph from the south southeast and large whitecaps covered the ocean. By mid afternoon, it began to rain forcing us to end our observations. AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA:…
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MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2026
We had bright sunshine today and there was clear distinction between the ocean and the sky. However, at the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, the wind was blowing 14 mph and gusting to 20 mph from the south southeast. This did create significant whitecaps and when blows were spotted, they were blown back and disappeared quickly.…
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2026
Observations on this cloudy day were from the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula. There was a slight wind from the south creating some small whitecaps on the ocean and blows did disappear very quickly. 🔆 10 southbound gray whales – all singles 🔆 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE = 332 southbound 🔆 🔷 6 bottlenose…
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2026
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…
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2026
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 ❇️ 🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧🔵🟧…
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2026
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 💠
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2026
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…
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MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2026
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…
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026
The day began with excellent visibility but fog did roll in later in the day greatly reducing our visibility. AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA: 🟩 13 southbound gray whales – we watched a group of two become three, then four, and eventually six whales were traveling south together- quite an awesome sight!! one group…
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2026
Another ideal day for observing whales. Calm ocean, no wind, excellent visibilty. There was offshore fog which fortunately stayed offshore throughout our observation period. AT THE POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE PENINSULA: 💠 36 southbound gray whales – one group of three, twelve pairs, and nine singles 💠 TOTAL GRAY WHALES SEEN TO DATE 🟰 244 southbound…