Recent Sightings
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THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2026
At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we had very good visibility clear to the horizon. It was moderately windy,
🔷 13 humpback whales- three sets of three, one pair, and two singles; one whale was tail lobbing for a short while
🔷 2 sea lions swimming north
🔷 129 harbor seals
🔷 2 black oystercatchers
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2026
Today’s conditions, so vastly different from yesterday, illustrates that no two days here on our beautiful coast are the same!
We had considerable clouds, offshore fog and haze starting at about 2 miles out, and the wind was blowing at 13 mph, gusting to 20 mph from the south southeast.
Just north of the Gualala Point Regional Park Beach, we spotted:
✳️ 2 single humpbacks
At the Point Arena Lighthouse peninsula, we spotted:
✳️ 3 single humpbacks
✳️ 127 harbor seals
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TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2026
A dream day!! Excellent visibility clear to the horizon. The ocean was as calm as a lake and there was no wind.
We observed from Saunders Reef and saw:
💠 8 humpback whales – one group of three, two groups of two, and one single
We did receive reports of humpback whales being seen all along the Mendonoma coastline from Jenner to Irish Beach. With much gratitude, we acknowledge the sightings we received from:
💠 Kate Bloch – Gualala Point Island in the north end of the Sea Ranch
💠 Roberta Chan – the beach at Gualal Point Regional Park
💠 Shari Goforth – Ollie’s Straight
💠 Diane Hichwa – the Sea Ranch
💠 Janet and Fred McElroy – Hearn Gulch and Saunders Reef
💠 Diane Wilson – Hearn Gulch and Saunders Reef
💠 Doug Forsell – Bowling Ball Beach to Fish Rock
💠 Kirsten Rhine – Anchor Bay Beach
💠 Jeanne Jackson – Anchor Bay
💠 Don McCormick – Irish Beach
💠 Michael Coustier – Gualala Point Regional Park in the early evening
All reported seeing blows, backs, flukes, flipper slapping, tail lobbing, lunging at the surface, and full breaching. A truly memorable and magical day.
🔆 We estimate that at least 200 humpbacks were visible off our coast today!🔆
We thank all who contributed their valuable sightings to us!
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MONDAY, JULY 20, 2026
Although Scott and I did not see any whales this week, we did receive two reports of humpback whales along our coast. The first came on Tuesday evening, July 14th from Michael Reinhart who noticed several blows from his home on the south end of the Sea Ranch. For over 30 minutes, Michael observed about ten humpback whales in two groups, one closer in and one farther out. The whales were flipper slapping, lunging at the surface, and lifting their flukes.
The next morning, Wednesday, July 15th, several very active humpback whales were seen near Cook’s Beach, also in two groups. At one point, four whales surfaced at the same time with open mouths to gulp in hundreds of gallons of ocean water containing anchovies or other small fish or possibly krill. This feeding strategy involves the throat pleats expanding greatly and as the whale gradually closes its mouth, the excess water is forced out, keeping the fish tucked behind its baleen plates. What a fascinating feeding strategy to observe.Video footage of this spectacular sight was posted on the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy’s Facebook page by board member Jennifer Dumpert and was captured by a visiting friend. -
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2026
We observed today at Gerstle Cove. We had good conditions in the morning hours as the fog remained well offshore at about five miles out. Unfortunately, as the day progressed the wind increased , This created massive whitecaps making it very difficult to spot blows.
🔶 NO WHALES SEEN
🔷 12 harbor seals
🔶 3 osprey
🔷 145 brown pelicans flying south; 121 flying north